HONG Kong's first bone marrow transplant unit to specialise in treating solid tumours such as breast and ovarian cancers opened this weekend at the Matilda Hospital.
The unit, which is also Hong Kong's first such private centre, will treat patients with common cancers who need such a huge dose of chemotherapy that would normally kill the bone marrow - and the patient.
The unit will use the latest in bone marrow transplant technology, according to spokesman Dr Bernard Chan Wan-dun. Staff will give patients the huge doses of chemotherapy they need - up to 10 times the normal amount - but only after removing their bone marrow.
Then the bone marrow will be re-infused into the patient to ''rescue'' them. The treatment - known as an autologous transplant - is normally used for leukaemia and blood disease patients where a donor with matching bone marrow cannot be found.
The unit will also provide transplants using donated marrow if necessary. Although bone marrow transplants can be performed in private hospitals in Hong Kong, Dr Leung Wang-kit, an attending physician attached to the unit, said he believed the Matilda was the first to set up a dedicated unit, and to aim to treat patients with solid tumours.
The unit, which cost $14 million to build and equip, is also believed to be the first in the territory to involve a collaboration between a private and a public hospital.