First successful marrow transplant in Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has been successful in performing the first marrow transplant, the Central Haematology and Blood Transfusion Institute officially announced on July 15.

The transplant was operated on Nguyen Thi Lan, a 21-year-old leukemia
sufferer, and the donor of blood-forming stem cell was Lan's sister.

After two-month treatment, Lan has been discharged from the hospital in a
normal health condition. Tests no longer found cancer cells and her marrow
is reported to be normal.

Bach Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the Central Haematology and Blood
Transfusion Institute, said that a new method of chemical treatment was use
in the transplant to enable the patient to accept cells resistant to cancer.
The new method also help reduce the risk of side-effects such as infection
and bleeding which an lead to the patient's death.

The Central Haematology and Blood Transfusion Institute currently receives
nearly 300 patients every day, with 70 percent of them being sufferers of
leukemia.-Enditem