During the third Annual Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion, the Asian Hospital conferred 12 BMT survivors with medals symbolizing the strength and courage they have demonstrated even in the face of tragedy.
The survivors’ families and friends, who also exemplified heroism for being true pillars of strength, graced the event.
"This annual affair is our way of giving thanks to God for a second lease on life to these brave individuals. This is also our way of sending the message of new hope across to those stricken by this deadly disease, that survival is within their reach if they just act now and fight for their lives," said Asian Hospital CEO Pamela Robinson during her welcome remarks.
During the event, a recap of the BMT procedures done the past year as well as the advancements made in the department was also discussed. According to Dr. Francisco Lopez, medical oncologist and hematologist and bone marrow transplant specialist at the Asian Hospital, there are some people with bone marrow-related cancers who are still not properly educated about the disease and the options available to treat it at its early stage.
"We want to inform them that BMT can cure and can save lives. It should not be their last resort, but rather their first step toward real treatment and ultimate recovery. We at Asian Hospital are doing our best to educate more people and rebuild their lives through BMT," he said.
Since being included in 2002 among its list of treatment offerings, the Asian Hospital has already done 16 allogeneic BMT procedures to patients aged eight months to 66.
Allogeneic BMT is the commonly conducted procedure that involves getting the stem cells of a healthy donor – usually a sibling – to be transfused to the patient.
A breakthrough procedure, the autologous bone marrow transplant or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, was introduced by the hospital last year and provides an alternative option for some patients with lymphoma, multiple myeloma and acute leukemia.
"Autologous BMT, performed in transplant centers all over the world since the 1980s, is the first of its kind in the country and we are proud to be the first hospital to offer it here," said Lopez.
"It is an intensive treatment procedure that dramatically improves survival rate, compared to standard chemotherapy, of cancer patients," he said.
Lopez said that similar to allogeneic BMT, autologous BMT entails the eradication of the cancer cells of a patient through high doses of chemotherapy.
The patient’s own stem cells that were previously harvested are transfused back to guarantee bone marrow recovery.
"With this procedure, there is definitely no possibility of rejection and no need for immunosuppressive medications," he said.
To date, the Asian Hospital has already conducted several successful autologous transplants, with cases ranging from multiple myeloma to Hodgkin’s disease.
"I cannot thank them (Asian Hospital BMT specialists) enough for saving my life through this breakthrough procedure. This reunion should not only honor us survivors, but also the Asian Hospital’s finest doctors whose expertise in the field coupled by their unwavering dedication became instrumental in our survival and our pursuit now to live better lives," said 33-year-old Dominic Pagulayan, who was Asian Hospital’s third autologous patient.
Pagulayan underwent the procedure for his relapsed Hodgkin’s Disease in July last year.
Lopez expressed his wish for more reunions to come, saying these occasions signify that more individuals with bone marrow-related cancers are getting aware of what BMT treatment procedures can do to help them live longer.