SEOUL, April 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The Catholic Hematology Hospital, a subsidiary of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, said Thursday that it became the world’s first singular institution to carry out 9,000 successful hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
Patients suffering from leukemia and hematologic malignancy go through radiation therapy to kill the cancer cells, and receive hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
Hematopoietic stem cells can be transplanted from family members or other people, or extracted from the patient’s own stem cells and then stored in refrigerated containers for later use.
The Catholic Hematology Hospital succeeded in the country’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant in 1983.
The hospital reportedly conducts some 20 percent of all hematopoietic transplants in the country, with around 600 transplants being carried out each year.
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