If your doctor agrees, it is recommended to delay ASCT to avoid the risk of COVID-19 infection.
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This week’s “Ask Dr. Durie” comes from a patient who has a very important question: Should he go ahead with an autologous stem cell transplant right now?
Well, unfortunately, the answer to this is probably not, because of the very large surge in COVID infections because of the Delta variant.
A year and a half ago we stopped doing autologous stem cell transplants, but once things improved and the level of community infection went way low, it was possible to start doing autologous stem cell transplants again.
However, right now many hospitals are overwhelmed, there are high levels of COVID-19 infection in the community. It’s a good time to think carefully about this. Talk to your doctor about it, and think seriously about delaying a transplant for the time being.
There is another piece of information that is helpful. As we get more and more data about our frontline therapies, both triplets, and quadruplets, the results are so good, and patients are in deep remission just with the frontline therapy, and it may be that it’s safe or okay to defer that frontline transplant option.
And so, BOTTOM LINE: Do talk to your doctor carefully about this. It may be a good time to delay an autologous stem cell transplant either for a short while or maybe for a long while after you complete the discussion with your doctor.
Professor of Medicine, Hematologist/Oncologist, and Honoree MD at the University of Brussels, Dr. Brian G.M. Durie is a co-founder of the IMF.
