Can I ask NHS to store my stem cells?

HI  SKIPPER88   i am Vespa,  AKA  Kevin,  i had STC  harvest and transplant  20 months ago,  by  default they collected enough Stem Cells for two,     i had to have the Plerixafor injection to mobilise enough of the Stem cells for harvesting,    and it took  2 days in the chair   for the " apheresis,"    extraction  which was boring,     so i see no reason why  you should not offer the same option,   mine was in Birmingham  QE  2  hospital,  but i  recovered in Worcester,  my home area,      and now leading a good life,       all the best to you over this period,  you are young,   you will knock this out,  and the Second line  treatments,  ( after SCT)  before even another transplant is offered   is   good with new   treatments available both in England and Scotland  NHS,     have you been allocated a Specialist Nurse?    they will know the options for you i am sure.  called " Clinical Nurse Specialist "     Kevin

Hi Kevin, thank you for the warm reply and your encouraging words. Fantastic to hear that you are doing well after your transplant.

I am in regular communication with my medical team in Aberdeen. They have been brilliant. It looks like I may have a say on this matter (choice can be a hard thing!), so I am trying to be as well informed as possible. 

We are all dealing with probabilities and possible scenarios and the stakes are high. This particular scenario involves what is termed Salvage ASCT. 

You said they harvested twice as many stem cells as they targeted. Did they (offer to) store them for a possible sASCT scenario?

yes  they did !       and indeed have done so,   

Hiya, I am a similar age to you :)  I had a SCT in June 2024 but it only lasted a short while and now I am on my second line of treatment.  Although they have mine stored for another go, they wont use them due to realising the treatment didn't work for me.  Everyone is different though, and a lot of people have really good remissions as a result of their SCT.  So yes, it is common practice that if they have enough for two goes, they store the extra :)

 GroguLove Thank you for sharing your experience. I understand biological resistance depends on the cytogenetics. Did they manage to eatablish the type of mutation that caused the disease? My tests were not conclusive 

Update from me: they will try to harvest enough stem cells for 2 transplants. We had an open and constructive discussion about the merits of a second transplant with the medical team. Upcoming treatments (CAR-T and bispecific antibodies) have much higher reported success rates and lower side effect risks. Those would be preferred. A second SCT is a reasonable backup option. Of course, CAR-T and bispecifics may never get approval or may not be available for me.

I hope everything goes well with your second line of treatment. Looking forward to hearing your updates in the future. Wishing you all the best!

Hi, I’m new here but had my stem cell harvested in April 2025 in Cardiff, they collected enough for two transplants which only took 7 hours, half were used in May and the rest kept in case I need a second transplant, now in full remission and on a maintenance treatment of Lenalidomide, 3 weeks on and one week off.