Stem cell therapy holds promise

Dzulkefly: Number of donors, however, is small and restricts compatibility

KUALA LUMPUR: While stem cell therapy holds a lot of promise for curing blood cancer and other disorders, the number of registered donors is still very low, said the Health Ministry.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said Malaysian Stem Cell Registry (MSCR), that was established 19 years ago, only had 28,291 donors so far.

“With this small number in the registry, matching donors were found in 16 cases,” he said when opening the inaugural World Marrow Donor Day celebration at the Ampang Hospital here yesterday.

Among diseases that could be cured through stem cell therapy are thalassaemia, leukaemia, bone marrow disorder, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Dr Dzulkefly noted that Asians only made up 15% of the 34 million registered stem cell donors worldwide, with the bulk of Asian donors being Chinese.

“Hence, the chances of a Chinese patient finding a matching donor in the global registry is higher compared to Malays, Indians, as well as the Sabah and Sarawak bumiputras, and other races,” he said.

Dr Dzulkefly noted that 70% of global stem cell donors were Caucasian, although 88% of the global population were non-Caucasians.

He lauded the Ampang Hospital’s Haematology Department for taking the initiative to organise the first World Marrow Day celebration in Malaysia to raise awareness on the need to increase the pool of public donors.

“Perhaps many people are not aware that stem cell donation can also be made by just donating blood,” said Dr Dzulkefly, who added that up until 2018, the Ampang Hospital had performed 2,111 cases of stem cell transplants.

Of this, 797 cases involved donors from relatives, 53 involved matching donors from non-relatives, 49 cases involved unmatched donors from among relatives (haplodentical), and 10 cases involved stem cells from the umbilical cord.

“Most of the stem cells from matching non-relative donors were sourced from abroad,” he said, adding that the government could not afford to absorb the high cost involved in sourcing and importing matching stem cells, which is why it is important to establish a large pool of local donors.

However, the declining fertility rate in Malaysia since 2013 has also made it increasingly difficult to find matching donors from among close relatives, he said.

Dr Dzulkefly said only a few hospitals in Malaysia have the expertise to carry out stem cell transplant to treat blood disorders.

“Ampang Hospital is the biggest centre, with 60% of stem cell transplants in the country carried out there,” he said.

Other hospitals that can do the same are the Penang Hospital and Johor’s Sultanah Aminah Hospital.