Check out this nice blog entry by a columnist in the US, Rick Badie. He describes a golfer, Jim Gates who finds out that he has multiple myeloma* and has undergone his own stem cell harvesting (peripheral blood stem cells) at Emory University Hospital and the procedure has helped extend his life for an estimate of 2-6 years. At least this will give him enough time to set his affairs in order and spend precious time with his loved ones, which the most of us often take for granted.
It will be interesting to know if he can undergo a second round of transplantation to extend his life further. Mr. Badie, please keep us informed.
Another interesting stem cell transplant story for Multiple Myeloma where the patient, Brian MacLeod complemented his treatment with a medical combination of east and west, blending chinese acupuncture with herbal remedies. The transplant took place in the year 2000 and he's still fine 6 years after.
*Peripheral Blood Stem Cells Harvesting for Multiple Myeloma is well tolerated in elderly patients of 60 years old and older. A recent study at Mayo Clinic showed that mobilization (where stem cells are generated from the bone marrow into the bloodstream) was successful in 95% of the patients and that statistically there was no difference in treatment outcomes of elderly patients or younger patients with this technique.
It was concluded that elderly patients with intermediate-stage Non Hodgkins Lymphoma or Multiple Myeloma derive benefit from autologous stem cell transplantation, particularly those with a good prognosis.
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