SOME cancers will be able to be cured on the Gold Coast when a new stem-cell transplant service is established.
The city's first public stem cell service will get under way this year at the Gold Coast University Hospital which will help "rescue" cancer patients from high-dose chemotherapy.
Gold Coast Hospitals Cancer Unit Oncologist Doctor Dr Jeremy Wellwood Source: News Limited
Gold Coast patients now have to travel to Brisbane for stem-cell transplants which freeze a person's good stem cells before they start on chemo and returns them after treatment.
In some cases the treatment can cure certain lymphomas.
More than 3000 people are diagnosed with cancer on the Coast each year.
Staff will be trained in the advanced techniques in the first part of this year.
A stem-cell counter is worth $180,000 while a collector has a $60,00 price tag. The service has been funded through a pool of money allocated to the planning and progression of the new hospital.
Dr Jeremy Wellwood, director of haematology oncology, said one of the machines could also diagnose leukaemia.
Up to 25 Gold Coasters are diagnosed with acute leukaemia each year and their samples have to be sent to Brisbane for testing.
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Stem cell service to cure some cancers