Friday, April 25, 2025

Stem cell transplants give a chance at life for people with otherwise incurable blood cancers. Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre has been a pioneer in the field and has launched a campaign to double the number of transplant beds in the hospital.

A stem cell transplant looks like a routine blood donation but amazing things are happening inside. Dr. Irwin Walker has been performing them since the 1980’s.

“It’s very strange to take something out of one body, put it in another person, nothing happens for two weeks, then suddenly the blood comes out of the bone marrow. It still seems like magic to me,” said Walker.

Different types of blood cancers are treated differently. Doctors say the common thing is they will be fatal without transplant.

Leukemia patients need stem cells from a donor. “What happens is, they replace the patient’s immune system. And while they’re replacing the patient’s current immune system, which is often damaged, or not working, they’re smart enough to recognize cancer cells in the patient’s body, and attack them,” said McMaster Hematologist Dr. Kylie Lepic.

Cassandra Wadham now has her donor’s blood type. “My body now makes her blood type. I was B positive and now I’m O positive,” said the young mother.

Wadham was dying of leukemia in 2011, but this Friday marks five years since her remission. Her donor was New Jersey mom. Erika Duffy sent in a cheek swab and joined the registry the same month doctors started looking for a match.

“She’s a lot like me. We think alike. Her kids are the same age as my oldest. We’re both sensitive, extremely caring, both work with children,” said Wadham. “It’s amazing that our lives overlapped. When we see each other we think the same, my husband says we laugh the same.”

Teresa Grace has lymphoma, and is receiving a different type of stem cell transplant. She spoke with reporter Lisa Hepfner while she was attached to a machine that was extracting her blood and sorting it.

Grace’s own stem cells will be stored while she gets a near fatal dose of chemotherapy. The stem cells are then re-injected and head back to her bone marrow.

“When my stem cells come back into my body, they’ll engraft, and they’ll mimic good healthy cells, and top to toe, my cells will be pure and new. Cancer free,” said Grace.

She’s a mom with two young boys, and her chances of survival are now 50/50.

“I hope to be in the good 50. I hope for a future to be cancer free. This is my cure, that I will not have to have this again.”

If you would like to donate please visit hamiltonhealth.ca/stems

#TomorrowStems