Hemopoiesis stem cells donated by two Chinese at Beijing Daopei
Hospital were flown on Thursday to the Republic of Korea (ROK) in
order to relieve two leukaemia patients.
Doctors at the hospital collected the stem cells from the bone
marrow of two male patients, one from Hebei and one from Hunan, on Thursday morning.
Two hundred milliliters of hemopoiesis stem cells, including
some collected on Wednesday, left Beijing at 3 PM on an ROK-bound
flight accompanied by two Korean officials from the ROK hemopoiesis
stem cell donor databank.
Hemopoiesis stem cells are unspecialized cells that can be used
to produce blood cells. These will be injected into the two ROK
leukaemia patients to help regenerate their blood forming functions
and fight the disease.
The Chinese and ROK hemopoiesis stem cell donor databanks signed
an agreement last July to exchange information on donors.
The Chinese databank turned up two matches for the ROK patients
and set up the deal.
"It is good news if my cells can save someone's life and I would
like to donate the cells when my body is in peak physical shape,"
said one of the donors named Yang.
The Databank of Chinese Hemopoiesis Stem Cell Donors had
collected more than 600,000 samples of hemopoiesis stem cells from
700 donors by the end of July, with cells from 29 donors flying to
help patients abroad.
The Beijing Daopei Hospital is authorized by the Chinese
databank to collect hemopoiesis stem cells for patients abroad and
has carried out 592 transplant operations in China itself.
Leukaemia is a health problem in China with 40,000 to 60,000 new
patients every year on average, or 130 new cases daily.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)
