Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Achieves Korea's First 10,000 Cases of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Hematology Hospital at Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 5th that it has achieved 10,000 cases of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for the first time in Korea.

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital successfully performed the first allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Korea in 1983. Since then, it has established its reputation as a "quaternary hospital for hematologic cancers" by succeeding in autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in 1985, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (1995), cord blood transplantation (1996), non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (1998), and haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (2001).

The Hematology Hospital at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital performs about 20% of all hematopoietic stem cell transplants nationwide. In particular, difficult allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants account for more than 70% of all transplants. When looking at the number of transplants by disease, acute myeloid leukemia leads with 3,315 cases, followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia with 1,796 cases, multiple myeloma with 1,286 cases, aplastic anemia with 990 cases, myelodysplastic syndrome with 783 cases, non-Hodgkin lymphoma with 765 cases, chronic myeloid leukemia with 472 cases, and myeloproliferative neoplasms with 119 cases.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a treatment method for patients with blood cancers such as leukemia, malignant lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, in which high-dose chemotherapy or total body irradiation is used to eliminate the patient's cancer cells and hematopoietic stem cells, followed by transplantation of healthy hematopoietic stem cells.

Kim Hee-je, director of the Hematology Hospital, said, "The monumental achievement of 10,000 cases of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at a single institution, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Hematology Hospital, will be a brilliant milestone leading the advancement of Korea's advanced transplant medicine." He added, "We pledge to continue to uphold the spirit of Christ, who heals both the body and mind, along with the development of future-oriented cutting-edge medical technology, and to become a world-class specialized treatment hub for hematologic diseases that greatly delivers the joy of healing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.