MakatiMed’s Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory is managed by experienced scientists with extensive training, and is affiliated with the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), a non-profit organization composed of leading cell therapy experts from 40 countries.
The office on the sixth floor of Makati Medical Center’s Tower 2 contains spare, clean, and chilly rooms, each one fitted with heavy-duty equipment that looks like generators or the industrial freezers used in restaurants. Who knew that these simple rooms contain state-of-the-art technology used to address a host of incurable diseases—from many types of cancers and heart ailments to Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis?
Launched during the first year of its Cancer Center, Makati Medical Center’s Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory provides patients with the option to treat specific health conditions with nothing more than their own stem cells. Defined as unspecified cells with the potential to develop into different cell types in the body, stem cells are responsible for growth, regeneration, or tissue repair.
As such, they serve as an internal repair system, endlessly dividing to replenish other cells as long as a person is alive. Using stem cells from a patient’s blood, bone marrow, or in the case of young children, umbilical cord, Stem Cell technology has yielded much success in leukemia cases involving bone marrow transplant. Ongoing studies conducted by clinicians and scientists likewise see Stem Cell technology’s potential to treat stroke, type 1 diabetes, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and even baldness, blindness, deafness, and missing teeth.
“This is the future of medicine,” says neurosurgeon Eric Flores, MD, head of MMC’s Cellular Therapeutics Lab and an experienced practitioner of stem cell treatment in his capacity as assistant professor of the University of Minnesota. “It’s time Makati Medical Center enters the molecular age.”
Dr. Eric Flores, Head, Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory: “Most cancer patients have weakened immune systems, hence, we put premium importance in the quality/sterility of the product. Compared to other facilities in the Philippines, our laboratory is unmatched in terms of providing the best cellular product or quality.”
Stem cell therapy is as controversial as it is cutting edge. Some European health facilities conduct stem cell therapy using embryonic stem cells—that is, stem cells sourced from aborted fetuses or embryos conceived through in-vitro fertilization. In contrast, MMC’s approach to stem cell therapy employs world-class technology, skilled board-certified medical consultants, and uncompromising safety measures.
Operating under the highest sterility standards at par with the US Food and Drug Administration, the lab boasts state-of-the-art equipment that is “totally unmatched in our country,” declares Dr. Francis Chung, scientific officer of the lab. “No system like this exists elsewhere.”
A Clinimacs CD34 Reagent System isolates specific cells required for treatment (unwanted components are returned to the donor), while a Flow Cytometer confirms the near-perfect purity of cells. In the event that stem cells need to be sourced from a donor, the lab strictly adheres to a 10-point DNA matching using technology that minimizes issues that could result from the grafting.
A patient who qualifies for stem cell therapy must pass a screening process involving a series of tests to ensure overall health. Doctors use anaesthesia to harvest healthy cells from a patient’s body (either from the vein or bone marrow); the cultured cells are then processed before they are readministered via injection into the patient.
Fitted with world-class equipment from Germany, Japan, and the USA, the lab will offer a wide range of services that boast the remarkable efficacy of stem cells.
Patients’ response to treatment vary; results can be had from as early as the second week to about a month after the start of therapy.  Side effects include a discomfort in the injection site, fever, and flu-like symptoms.
Such revolutionary technology, of course, comes with a price. Setting patients back by at least P2.5 million, the treatment, like any procedure, offers no guarantee. Still, with early intervention, doctors and patients alike can hope for the best possible outcome.
But just imagine if it did work! Extended and improved quality of life, fewer side effects from conventional treatment, and even eliminating any recurrence of cancer or other fatal diseases are what patients can expect from Stem Cell technology. These reasons alone have made Dr. Flores very busy in the past several months. “People have been stopping me in the hallways, asking me about stem cell treatment,” he says with a chuckle. “Everybody is looking forward to it.”
For more inquiries on stem cell therapy, visit the Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory at 6th floor, Tower 2, Makati Medical Center, 2 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati, or call tel. no. 870-3015 to 17.
