Durban - The stem cells that are to be transplanted into nine-year-old Rose-Leigh Usher, the Wentworth girl fighting a rare, aggressive cancer, are expected to arrive in South Africa next week.
The unit was ordered from a US cord stem cell bank, as there were no matching donors registered with the SA Bone Marrow Registry.
Rose-Leigh was diagnosed with hepatosplenic gamma-delta T-cell lymphoma last June.
Professor Nicolas Novitzky, of Groote Schuur Memorial Hospital in Cape Town where the transplant will take place, said on Wednesday that they had requested the stem cell unit to arrive on April 11, although there could be delays.
Rose-Leigh’s family and doctor hope the stem cell transplant will give her a new lease on life.
The little girl has a generally incurable form of lymphoma, with the longest survival rate being 16 months after detection and most patients dying from the disease within six months to a year.
Novitzky said the unit would be couriered in a hermetically sealed container and liquid nitrogen. It would be delivered to the hospital by the SA Bone Marrow Registry.
“On arrival, it will then be opened and the recorded temperature will be checked. Once the integrity of the graft is confirmed, they will be put in our liquid nitrogen tank,” he said.
Novitzky said on the day of the transplant, the cells would be thawed, washed with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) - an industrial solvent that is also used to target cancer cells - and the cellular content tested.
Rose-Leigh was expected to arrive at the hospital once the cells have arrived, he said.
“She will first go to Red Cross Hospital to have all her organs tested,” he said, explaining she would undergo X-rays, an echocardiogram (a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart), lung function tests, viral studies and other chemistry tests.
Before Rose-Leigh can undergo the transplant, Novitzky explained that her immune system must be ablated (destroyed) to ensure the engraftment of cells.
“This takes about seven to 10 days from the day of admission. The procedure takes about 30 minutes,” he said.
Novitzky said the hospital performed about four similar operations each year.
The purchase of the stem cells would not have been possible had it not been for generous donations from pensioners, businesses, churches and schools who helped to raise the money.
After the Daily News ran the story in February, the trust account set up for her overflowed, with a total of more than R600 000 raised for the purchase of the stem cells and transplant costs.
Daily News