Blood Cancer and HSCT
Blood cancer is not the same as a solid tumor. It is unresectable and generally considered incurable because the root problem lies in the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which continuously produce abnormal cells. Therefore, the standard frontline treatment is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Taiwan have developed extensive experience in performing HSCT, and the treatment capacity has gradually increased. We have accumulated over 10,000 cases so far. However, I’m surprised that the annual number of new HSCT cases has sharply declined since 2021. The peak volume was 774 cases in 2019 and 762 in 2020, but it started to decrease in 2021, reaching only 263 cases in 2024—less than half the peak within just five years. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I suspect that the launch and reimbursement of innovative medicines in Taiwan may gradually replace HSCT, as HSCT is a highly demanding procedure with potential fatal risks—even though the ...