Bone marrow transplant puts child with acute myeloid leukaemia in complete remission

March 12, 2016, should have been a normal day for Yu Zixuan, who was just two years old when his parents took him to the hospital for a routine check-up. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.


For the first time, Yu Zixuan started chemotherapy at the local hospital on 3 June 2016 and went into remission. Unfortunately, in August 2016, the bone marrow test showed that he had relapsed, just two months after he was diagnosed with leukaemia. After the first relapse, Yu Zixuan received five more rounds of chemotherapy because the leukaemia could not be effectively controlled and he suffered from central nervous system leukaemia. That's when the family was told to start thinking about a bone marrow transplant, and they decided to go to Lu Daopei Hospital for the transplant on the recommendation of other patients.


After the initial consultation and full assessment of Yu Zixuan, he was admitted to the bone marrow transplant department at Lu Daopei Hospital. At that time, he was in remission and allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation was his only chance for long-term survival. Fortunately, the medical team found a matched unrelated donor on the Taiwan Marrow Bank registry.


On 23 February 2017, the harvested stem cells were infused into Yu Zixuan, after 10 days of platelet transplantation and 17 days of white blood cell transplantation, 25 days after the transplantation, his bone marrow function was restored by the transplanted stem cells, and the residual bone marrow is negative. In the meantime, he needs medication to prevent GVHD. On 15 May 2018, Yu Zixuan was readmitted for impaired liver function due to the drug he had to prevent the early complication. After 8 days of treatment, he was discharged from the hospital and continues to receive routine follow-up.


The patient's mother wrote: "It was you who showed us the harshness and wonder of life and made us realise that life has dignity. Thank you for your noble medical ethics and excellent skills that have made our children healthy again. It is right for us to travel thousands of miles from Xin Jiang to seek medical treatment here. We believe that our children will get better and better and our lives will get better and better with the continued treatment at Lu Daopei Hospital. "