Vietnamese doctors will produce cells to treat blood cancer.

Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital is preparing to produce CAR-T cells to treat blood cancer, so patients do not have to spend billions of dong going abroad for treatment.

Doctors and nurses during a cell therapy treatment in Taiwan for a girl in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo provided by the hospital).

"If CAR-T cells can be produced domestically, the cost of treatment will be reduced to less than 500 million VND instead of billions of VND when going abroad," said Dr. Phu Chi Dung, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital, at the press conference opening three international and domestic conferences on blood transfusion, transplantation and cell therapy, which opened on the morning of September 16, with more than 2,000 delegates and nearly 350 foreign experts in attendance.

The first patient to receive CAR-T cell therapy was a 12-year-old girl with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of malignant blood cancer. After being transferred to Taiwan by a hematologist in collaboration with doctors at the hematology hospital, she returned to the country to continue monthly maintenance treatment and has been healthy for over a year. Previously, she had undergone chemotherapy but quickly relapsed. She then received a half-matched bone marrow transplant from her father, but the disease relapsed after a short time.

According to Dr. Dung, this is the most difficult technique in hematology but is considered one of the biggest breakthroughs in modern medicine. The therapy helps destroy cancer cells, reduce the risk of recurrence, prolong life and improve the quality of life for patients, according to many international studies. However, the cost abroad is very high, one case can cost tens of billions of dong. The girl above went to Taiwan for treatment because the cost is cheaper than other countries, but the cost still amounts to billions.

To reduce the burden, the hospital has prepared facilities, sent doctors, nurses, and technicians for training in Taiwan, and cooperated with international experts to move towards domestic production. This place is also implementing research projects at the department level and aiming for the Ministry of Health level. If successful, costs can be significantly reduced, opening up opportunities for many leukemia patients to access advanced technology without having to leave their homeland.

Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital is a first-class specialized facility, the final line of the Southern region, one of the leading hospitals in the country in blood transfusion and hematology.

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Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/bac-si-viet-se-san-xuat-te-bao-tri-ung-thu-mau-521004.html