Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Successfully Performs Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation on 77-Year-Old Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

"National Health Insurance Corporation Benefits Extended to Age 69... Benefits Should Also Reach Patients in Their 70s"

Professor Jo Byung-sik of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Blood Hospital and Mr. Cheon Mo (77), who successfully underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, are taking a commemorative photo in the hospital room before discharge.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 18th that it successfully performed a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on a patient in their late 70s with acute myeloid leukemia. Considering that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is typically performed before the age of 70, the hospital explained that this patient is the oldest transplant recipient in South Korea.

According to the hospital, Mr. Cheon (77) was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at a hospital in Busan last May and was undergoing treatment but showed no improvement, leading him to visit the Hematology Department at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. Professor Cho Byung-sik of the Leukemia Center confirmed that there was no response to decitabine treatment and then administered a combination therapy including targeted therapy, achieving remission. After five more rounds of combination therapy, Mr. Cheon underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation donated by his son while in complete remission, was discharged in good health, and is currently under follow-up observation.

Acute myeloid leukemia is the second most common blood cancer in adults after lymphoma. In South Korea, it occurs at a rate of 2 to 3 cases per 100,000 people annually, with an average onset age of 65 to 67 years, making it an age-related blood cancer that increases in frequency with age. Patients aged 60 and above often have poorer prognoses compared to younger patients and frequently have various comorbidities and functional impairments related to aging. Therefore, the success rate of conventional chemotherapy is low, and the risk of complications is high.

In particular, for a cure, most patients?especially those in the poor prognosis group?require allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, a highly advanced immunotherapy, after chemotherapy. Immune-related complications following transplantation are significant hurdles to achieving a cure. Due to these challenges, transplantation was previously only possible for younger patients, but recent continuous advancements in transplantation techniques have increased the application of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in elderly patients.

Currently, transplantation is covered by insurance for patients up to 69 years old who respond well to chemotherapy (in complete remission). For those aged 70 and above, transplantation has become possible through elderly patient-specific transplantation techniques if their overall condition is good and they have no severe comorbidities; however, this is excluded from insurance coverage.

Professor Cho Byung-sik stated, “Even though it has been over 20 years since transplantation became possible for elderly patients, many elderly patients still cannot receive appropriate treatment due to incorrect information that transplantation is impossible for them and unreasonable insurance regulations. Especially because insurance coverage for transplantation is only provided up to age 69, many patients in their 70s who are eligible for transplantation, and even doctors, often give up considering transplantation as a treatment option.” He added, “Insurance coverage for transplantation should not be determined by age but by assessing whether the patient is in a condition suitable for transplantation. Regulations need to be improved accordingly.”

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