MHH nationwide leader in blood cancer therapy

MHH physicians nationwide leader in therapy for blood cancer

07/01/2014

Radiation or chemotherapy is used as a treatment both for and diseases. As a rule, these methods are known as agents against tumor and cancers. If blood cancer is not successfully treated, the only way to cure patients is to have a blood stem cell transplant. If the donor is one and the same person, speaks of a so-called “. Often donors and recipients are different people. The experts then speak of one “allogeneic“ Blood stem cell transplantation. Most patients receiving this therapy have some form of acute leukemia.

The Hannover Medical School (MHH) for hematology, haemostaseology, oncology and stem cell transplantation is a leader in allogeneic stem cell transplantation in Germany. Under the direction of Professor dr. Arnold Ganser can cure 62 percent of all adult patients who suffer from acute melodic leukemia (AML), which is a malignant disease of the hematopoietic system. In the nationwide average, there are only 50 percent. AML is characterized by the presence of cancer cells in the bone marrow and blood that inhibit normal blood formation.

MHH is the most successful nationwide
Other types of blood cancer, such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasia (MPN), recover 52 percent of MHH patients. Again, the national average is otherwise at 40 percent. MDS is a bone marrow disease that causes a hematopoietic disorder that can lead to AML. In contrast, MPN are blood diseases that arise as a result of cancerous stem cells. The physicians see patients only as cured, if it has come five years after the transplantation to no disease relapses and also no transplantation consequences have occurred.

Stem Cell Transplant Registry allows comparisons
Opportunities to compare individual centers have only become apparent with the introduction of the German Stem Cell Transplant Registry (DRST). All patients who had transplanted blood stem cells from 1998 to 2012 are registered here. “The results show the excellent quality of allogeneic stem cell transplantation at the MHH for the diagnoses AML and MDS / MPN. The first-time registration is a confirmation that we are on the right track and do not need to shy away from comparison with other centers. Such evaluation also helps patients in deciding where to get transplanted”, says Professor Ganser.

Thanks to the register, data on the Germany-wide average could be determined for the first time and inform those responsible that many patients actually exceeded the five-year limit after transplantation and can therefore be classified as cured. According to the database, allogeneic stem cell transplants were performed in 45 centers in Germany in 2012 in more than 3,100 adults. 2,900 received a transplant for the first time. Looking at the development, it can be seen that there has been a continuous increase in AML and MDS transplants for ten years. (Fr)

Image: Dieter Schütz