Qa'dah 24, 1431, Nov 01, 2010, SPA -- King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam has succeeded in performing stem cell transplant operations on two patients suffering from blood plasma tumors, in procedures described as the first ever at a Ministry of Health hospital. Both patients are said to be in excellent health, with one having already left hospital and the other expected to be discharged within the next few days, the Jeddah-based Saudi Gazette reported today. Dr. Khaled Al-Enizi, a hematologist and stem cell transplant specialist who supervised the two cases, said the first step in treating blood cancer is high doses of chemical treatment to kill cancerous cells. “Then healthy ones can be transplanted from the patient himself to produce new blood,” Dr. Al-Enizi said.
