The first non-relative umbilical cord blood transplant was
successfully conducted in Vietnam, announced the National Institute of
Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) under the Ministry of Health on
April 2.
The transplant took place on December 30, 2014 for
Hoang Thi Thuy Linh, a 28-year-old from central Quang Binh province
suffering from acute leukemia. After three months of transplantation,
she has recovered and the umbilical cord blood cells are growing stably.
The
transplant cost nearly 1 billion VND (46,500 USD), 50 percent of which
was paid for by insurance. The NIHBT provided free umbilical cord blood
stem cells worth 300 million VND (13,950 USD).
NIHBT Deputy
Director PhD Bach Quoc Khanh said that transplant will help lengthen
Linh’s life, highlighting that this measure offers hope to patients with
blood disorders.
Vietnam’s first cord blood stem cell bank was
opened by the NIHBT in May 2014 to gather and store donations of
umbilical cords for the purpose of treating blood disorders for people
in need.
Since then, the bank has stored nearly
1,000 samples of stem cells. Other than umbilical cords, stem cells can
be extracted from bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells.
VNA