Singapore doctor shares medical breakthroughs

To help patients live longer and better lives, Parkway Health brings Dr. Anselm Lee to Cebu to talk on “Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation” at the Chong Hua Hospital today.  More than 100 doctors from the hospital will be in attendance as Dr. Lee shares dramatic medical breakthroughs to give hope to patients with fatal blood disorders and cancers that cannot be cured by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Dr. Anselm Lee, a Consultant Pediatric Hematologist and Oncologist of the Parkway Cancer Centre in Singapore, helped establish the pediatric bone marrow transplantation (BMT) program in the Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.  He performed the first BMT for thalassaemia in Hong Kong.  

In 1994, Dr. Lee performed the first case of umbilical cord blood transplantation in Hong Kong.  In 1995, he moved to Tuen Mun Hospital and successfully restructured its pediatric hematology and oncology service.

A graduate of the University of Hong Kong, Dr. Lee received his postgraduate training in the Department of Pediatrics in Queen Mary Hospital.  His sub-specialization in pediatric hematology and oncology started in 1990.  As a Croucher Foundation Fellow, Dr. Lee trained in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplantation in the Institute of Child Health, Department of Hematology and Oncology, the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London.

Parkway Hospitals Singapore is the largest private healthcare group in Asia that manages an extensive network of hospital and integrated healthcare facilities in the region.  

Stem cells are blood cells at the earliest stage of development in the bone marrow.  Within the bone marrow, stem cells develop into the different blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets).

When cells fully mature, they are released into the blood stream.  Normally, most of the stem cells in the body are in the bone marrow and there are only very small numbers in the bloodstream.

There are three sources of hematopetic stem cells:  1) bone marrow; 2) peripheral blood; 3) umbilical cord blood. Putting a needle into the bone to collect stem cells from the bone marrow has been the traditional way. Now, it is also possible to collect the stem cells from the blood. It can be done after the stem cells are stimulated to move into the bloodstream using injections of a special protein known as growth factor.  Blood stem cells are progenitors or “Mother of All Blood Cells” and have the ability to reproduce themselves.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplants have a wide variety of applications in children and adults who have leukaemia, cancers and other congenital disorders.  In children with resistant leukemias, stem cell transplant is often the only chance of cure.  Children with metastatic cancers like neuroblastoma can have a much better survival with stem cell transplant.  For those with thalassaemia, immune deficiency, metabolic diseases, stem cell transplant offers cure rates of 80-90 percent as compared to conventional, symptomatic treatment.