Paving the Road for Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in the United Arab Emirates: A Single Centre’s Experience

Panayotis Kaloyannidis,1 Biju George,1 Ahmad Alrustamani,1 Charbel Khalil,1 Basmah Al-Charfli,1 Nour Al-Moghrabi,1 Dima Ibrahim,2 Mohammed Alfar,3 Mohammed Daryahya,1 Kayane Mheidly,4 Amro El-Saddik,1 Humaid O Al-Shamsi5– 11 1Adult Hematology & Cellular Therapy Department, Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 2Infectious Diseases Department, Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 3Pharmacy Department, Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 4Hematology Department, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 5Medical Oncology Department, Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 6Burjeel Cancer Institute, Burjeel Medical City, Burjeel Holdings, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 7Emirates Oncology Society, Emirates Medical Association, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 8Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates; 9Gulf Medical University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 10College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 11Gulf Cancer Society, Alsafa, KuwaitCorrespondence: Panayotis Kaloyannidis, Adult Hematology & Cellular Therapy Department, Burjeel Medical City, 28th Street - Mohamed Bin Zayed City, PO Box 7400, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Despite its long-term history, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) still faces challenges in several countries under development and especially in the private health sector.Objectives, Design and Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we present our experience and the results of 48 adult patients who underwent HSCT (autologous 37, allogeneic 9) at a private-sector hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The main indications were multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukaemia in the autologous and allogeneic setting, respectively.Results: All patients successfully engrafted, and after a median follow-up of 6 (range: 1– 11) months, 42 patients are alive (36 autografted and 6 allografted). The 1-year overall survival rates were 97% and 62% for autografted and allografted patients, respectively, while 4 patients died within 100 days post-transplant from treatment-related causes (1 patient from the autografted group and 3 patients from the allografted group).Conclusion: Our data confirm that HSCT is a feasible, safe, and effective treatment approach, offering high success rates to UAE patients with haematological malignant diseases.Keywords: autologous stem cell transplantation, allogeneic stem cell transplantation, middle east, development, barriers, United Arab Emirates