Shanghai Daily

Stem cell transplant patient recovers

- Ke Jiayun

TAHSEEN Dilbar, a 30-year-old Pakistani man who was unable to produce enough healthy blood cells, has recovered and left the hospital in Shanghai yesterday after undergoing a hematopoie­tic stem cell transplant using Chinese umbilical cord blood last month.

His attending physician, Dr Wang Chun, said the successful transplant helped restore Dilbar’s hematopoie­tic function and eliminated his myelodyspl­astic syndrome (MDS) — a group of disorders in which bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells.

His wife, Jasmin Tahira, told hospital staff that she was excited and grateful to the profession­als taking care of her husband.

Dilbar was diagnosed with MDS in 2010. He tried a number of different blood transfusio­n procedures before seeking treatment in China.

After studying Dilbar’s case, Dr Wang recommende­d a hematopoie­tic stem cell transplant. Dr Wang filed an applicatio­n with the China Marrow Donor Program, which taps into data at seven umbilical cord blood hematopoie­tic stem cell banks across the nation. Good news came from the Shanghai stem cell bank, which had hematopoie­tic stem cells that matched Dilbar’s in an umbilical cord blood sample it collected from Tongren Hospital 10 years ago.

The umbilical cord blood, along with peripheral blood donated by Dilbar’s elder brother, were administer­ed on April 25 at the hospital.

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