Paediatric Haematology & Oncology

PBSC transplantation is a procedure that involves transplanting healthy blood stem cells obtained from the peripheral blood (all the blood that travels throughout your body, i.e. heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins) to patients with abnormal or non-functioning bone marrow. The goal of this procedure is to restore the recipient's haematopoietic functions. 

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a type of cell that can develop into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. They are primarily produced by and reside in the bone marrow, which is a soft and spongy tissue within the cavities of large bones. A subset of these cells, known as peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs), are similar to HSCs but are more accessible and easier to collect.

Patients receiving autologous blood stem cell transplantation are required to be hospitalised for PBSC harvesting. Prior to the harvesting procedure, they will receive chemotherapy and/or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) injections several days in advance. This helps mobilise the blood stem cells from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood, facilitating the separation process by the apheresis machine, a blood cell separator. 

On the collection day, the patient will be sent to our Comprehensive Oncology Centre to undergo the harvesting procedure conducted by specialty nurses. The patient will be connected to the apheresis machine through the central venous catheter and will be closely monitored by both equipment and nurses. The whole PBSC harvesting process takes approximately four to five hours and does not require general anaesthesia. 

When deemed appropriate, the patient will be readmitted to our Hospital for high-dose chemotherapy. The formerly frozen peripheral blood stem cells are then transported back to the ward in a specialised cryogenic container. A haematology nurse will carefully thaw the cells and administer them to the patient through a central venous catheter.