Monash Health can now offer autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The procedure is offered to patients with haematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
Dr Danielle Oh, Haematologist and Clinical Lead for Cellular Therapies, says this is a significant milestone for Monash Health as patients no longer need to travel to other healthcare services to receive this life-saving, potentially curative treatment.
“This is extremely burdensome for the patients and their carers as they need to travel far for clinical appointments, stem cell collection, pre-transplant work up and stem cell infusion. This specialised treatment has been made available because of the newly established Cellular Therapy program at Monash Health.
“We collaborate with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and use their cryo-laboratory facility for processing and storage of stem cells. Instead of sending our patients, we send our stem cell products to their laboratory. This allows us to provide continuity of care for all our patients who need ASCT,” she says.
What does the procedure entail?
Dr Oh explains that an ASCT uses healthy blood stem cells from a patient to replace the cells damaged by the high-dose chemotherapy. ASCT involves the collection of stem cells. As stem cells normally live in the bone marrow, they are mobilised to the bloodstream using chemotherapy and/or growth factor hormone.
The stem cells are then collected from the patient’s bloodstream using an apheresis machine. An apheresis machine is an instrument which separates the blood components, allowing the stem cells to be collected while returning the remainder of the blood to the patient. Once the stem cells are collected, they are stored in a special freezer until required for transplant.
Patients will receive high-dose chemotherapy to destroy any residual tumour cells and prepare the bone marrow to receive the stem cells. The collected stem cells are thawed and re-infused into the patients via an intravenous line. This allows the healthy stem cells to grow and mature into other cells like red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Monash Health’s First Stem Cell Transplant Patients
So far, two patients, 56-year-old Sabor Haiderzadha and 70-year-old Phillip Mawdsley successfully received ASCT at Monash Health.
Both patients were diagnosed with multiple myeloma and received a few cycles of chemoimmunotherapy prior to their ASCT.
“It was very successful, and I was offered the opportunity to have a stem cell transplant. Dr. Oh, Lucy Hoo and their team have coordinated the whole thing, along with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
“My stem cells were harvested roughly a month ago. And now today I’m having them reinfused and hoping for good long-term recovery as much as possible,” Philip said on the day of his transplant on 7 June 2023.
Both patients have now completed ASCT and been discharged from the ward.
“It is not a short journey and often patients are overwhelmed by their new diagnosis and treatment process. It is our privilege to be able to offer all their care at Monash Health. The Ward 44 nurses and Haematology team have done an amazing job taking care of Sabor and Phillip during their ASCT,” Dr Oh says.
Professor Stephen Opat, Head of Haematology, and recently appointed as Director of Cancer Services says there is great opportunity to raise Monash Health’s profile as the clinical research here is second to none and that we put more patients on clinical trials than most hospitals in Australia.
“That’s another great thing about Monash is a camaraderie and the interactions between other teams like immunology and infection immunity and the rheumatology because there’s a lot of synergy there,” he says.