Hemopoiesis stem cells donated by two Chinese at Beijing Daopei Hospital were flown on Thursday to the Republic of Korea (ROK) in order to relieve two leukaemia patients.

Doctors at the hospital collected the stem cells from the bone marrow of two male patients, one from Hebei and one from Hunan, on Thursday morning.

Two hundred milliliters of hemopoiesis stem cells, including some collected on Wednesday, left Beijing at 3 PM on an ROK-bound flight accompanied by two Korean officials from the ROK hemopoiesis stem cell donor databank.

Hemopoiesis stem cells are unspecialized cells that can be used to produce blood cells. These will be injected into the two ROK leukaemia patients to help regenerate their blood forming functions and fight the disease.

The Chinese and ROK hemopoiesis stem cell donor databanks signed an agreement last July to exchange information on donors.

The Chinese databank turned up two matches for the ROK patients and set up the deal.

"It is good news if my cells can save someone's life and I would like to donate the cells when my body is in peak physical shape," said one of the donors named Yang.

The Databank of Chinese Hemopoiesis Stem Cell Donors had collected more than 600,000 samples of hemopoiesis stem cells from 700 donors by the end of July, with cells from 29 donors flying to help patients abroad.

The Beijing Daopei Hospital is authorized by the Chinese databank to collect hemopoiesis stem cells for patients abroad and has carried out 592 transplant operations in China itself.

Leukaemia is a health problem in China with 40,000 to 60,000 new patients every year on average, or 130 new cases daily.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)