Patients with a confirmed positive diagnosis of the following neurologic disorders are eligible for HSCT treatment: Multiple Sclerosis (MS): SPMS, PPMS and RRMS, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), Transverse Myelitis (TM), Neuro Myelitis Optica (NMO / Devic’s disease). If you are interested in our treatment, please provide your full name, diagnosis, phone, and email address in the section “contact” and we will kindly contact you.

Patients with a confirmed positive diagnosis of the following neurologic disorders are eligible for HSCT treatment: Multiple Sclerosis (MS): SPMS, PPMS and RRMS, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), Transverse Myelitis (TM), Neuro Myelitis Optica (NMO / Devic’s disease). If you are interested in our treatment, please provide your full name, diagnosis, phone, and email address in the section “contact” and we will kindly contact you.

Unfortunately, no, one of our inclusion criteria states that patients must have a confirmed diagnosis to apply for eligibility for HSCT treatment so, is not possible for us to continue with the process until you have been diagnosed.

We have experience treating both hematological and non-hematological conditions. In the case of neurological diseases or immune neurological diseases, we treat Multiple sclerosis, CIDP and NMO. However, we have a large experience treating hematological malignancies such as myelomas, Leukemias, Lymphomas and some other types of solid cancers.

Disease-modifying drugs affect the immune system. It is a requirement to stop these medications as they can increase infection risks during HSCT.

Yes, you are eligible for treatment if you have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. In our experience using our method, we have found good results in all types of multiple sclerosis including this variety.

EDSS stands for Expanded Disability Status Scale. We use this international method to assess the degree of severity of the disease, and most importantly, to find out how patients are doing. If you transplant a patient with an EDSS of 7, for example, and after 3 months the patient goes to 5, that indicates good result. EDSS is the best way to assess both, the degree of severity of the disease and the efficacy of the results; this score is used worldwide to classify and follow up, and this is why we use it both, here in Puebla and in Monterrey.

MRI images are not used to elect the patients, they are however required to have the complete medical chart, to out-rule any cancerous malignancy, and to have evidence to make comparisons between before and after the transplant.

The doses of chemotherapy employed could cause infertility in some cases. There is no way to predict who could develop this condition. It is advisable to get in contact with your general practitioner to find out if freezing, for example, sperm, in the case of male patients, could be necessary.

After grafting more than 500 patients, we have found that our results are similar, if not better than those reported from other centers which divide the doses of Cyclophosphamide in a different way. As of now, we have found that the EDSS score improves in 41% of patients using our method, it remains stable in 40% of patients and the EDSS progresses in around 19% of patients. This is in the first 3 months after the transplant. It is possible that the results are better after this period. As a result of making a little difference in the way to deliver the Cyclophosphamide, only 2% of patients have been hospitalized, the mortality rate is 0.2%, only one patient has had a serious complication and no patient has had a serious infection. These results are substantially better and safer than those obtained using other ways to deliver the chemotherapy.

Neutropenia can be achieved, either in the hospital or as an outpatient. Neutropenia developing in a hospital is much more dangerous because nosocomial acquired infections are more severe and endowed with higher morbid mortality, this is the reason why we try to keep all the patients outside of the hospital, to reduce the complications of the delivery of chemotherapy.

Using our method after grafting more than 1,000 patients, we have found that the best results are in primary progressive and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, however, we have also found good results for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. This is very important because the overall results indicate that patients do have some type of response in 80% of cases; 40% of them improve the condition, 40% of them remain stable and this makes the total of 80%.

Yes, it is quite possible, however, not all patients, given these doses of chemotherapy, lose their hair. Probably, more than 50% will lose their hair, however, there is no relationship between the degree of neutropenia achieved by the delivery of the chemotherapy with the loss of hair, and there is no relationship between losing your hair and having an effective transplant.

The salient risks are infections that can occur during the neutropenic period and bleeding that can occur during the thrombocyte of the neutropenic period. However, in our hands, these two periods can be supported on an outpatient basis and the risk of serious infections is very low.

That is a very important question. The only way to analyze the results of certain therapeutic procedures is by analyzing them properly using statistics and eventually publishing the experiences. This is our case, our experience using this “Mexican Method” to conduct hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis is already in the press. In addition to this publication, we have presented our experiences at international congresses in England, the American Society of Hematology congress, the congress of American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and the Latin American Congress of Transplants. So, the only way to prove that our method works is by publishing it and by allowing other researchers to use it and prove that it works in their hands. This is one of the reasons why since the beginning we elected to register our method in the clinical trials registry so that anybody can use our method irrespective of the place where they are living or working.

In our hands the neutropenic period takes about 7 to 10 days, during that period, you will be given specific instructions, here, to avoid dangers. And accordingly, you don’t have to worry about this, we will take care of this while you are here.

Depending on the medical condition to treat, you will be instructed to provide MRIs or CT scans from specific sections, furthermore, the study will have to be no older than 3 months from your scheduled treatment date.

Its purpose is to have a complete image of the central nervous system before the treatment and accordingly comply with international standards.

A week prior to your arrival, you will be contacted via email by the lodging and transportation company named MOSC. They will corroborate your flight details in order to arrange your pick-up from the airport.

• Mexico City’s airport to COR building in Puebla: around 2 hours and 30 minutes.
• Puebla’s airport to COR building in Puebla: around 40 minutes.
• Monterrey’s airport to Monterrey’s apartments: around 40 minutes.

No, we have been working together for more than 20 years in different areas of hematology. Dr. Ruiz Argüelles and Dr. Gomez-Almaguer were recently granted the Distinguished Service Award by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Research and have been transplanting patients for more than 20 years using the same methodology. In the case of patients transplanted because of multiple sclerosis, we are using the exact same method, since we have two different venues, there might be minor differences, but, the method, the doses of chemotherapy, the weight to support the patients, and the results are exactly the same.

At the Clinic we offer Caregiver Services so that you are accompanied during the whole treatment. This is an extra cost, but it certainly gives you the opportunity to hire this service with us. However, this service is subject to availability so please let us know beforehand if you will require a caregiver.

In case you need to arrive earlier or depart after the established dates, you will need to book a room in a hotel.

Yes, we have a designated smoking area on the rooftop in Puebla. In Monterrey, you also have a roof garden or a balcony in the master bedroom.

No, only ground transportation.

• 2 pairs of comfortable, loose, long pants (sweatpants) for chemo days.
• 1 zip-up or button-up sweater, sweatshirt, or cardigan for chemo days, evenings, and early mornings.
• 3 loose tops with loose neckties (not a polo shirt or a normal t-shirt) for easy access to your central line during chemo and stem cell harvesting.
• A couple of loose, lightweight outfits.
• 2 pairs of pajamas.
• Comfortable walking shoes.
• Fitted slippers for chemo day, with non-skid bottoms.
• Tennis shoes and socks.
• Workout clothes to use in the gym.
• If you’re sensitive to noise, bring a white noise machine, ear plugs, or install a white noise app on your phone.
• Bedroom curtains don’t block out the light 100% so sleep mask if you need dark to sleep/nap.
• Sunglasses to admire sunset time at the roof garden.

Additional accessories and tech:

• Any favorite hard candies for chemotherapy days.
• A heating pad or hot water bottle (there is a microwave in each apartment).
• If you do not have Netflix or Amazon Prime, considering bringing a portable DVD player. (There is a place to buy cheap DVDs by the Street of Sweets. $50.00 MXN Pesos for 6 DVDs).
• Headphones along with your favorite music for the trip.
• A camera to record all the new things that you will discover in Mexico.
• (There will be one computer to share available in the COR building along with a printer).
• A power plug converter if your devices don’t have a standard US plug (120V).
• Consider a power strip if you have multiple items you would like to change daily. (There are 6 outlets in the apartment).
  
  

Please contact hsct@hsctmexico.com, we will send you an email with instructions to access.

There is currently no waiting list for Mexico so you can choose from the available treatment dates the one that fits your needs; we do recommend booking in advance to secure your spot.

Unfortunately, we do not work with any insurance company. However, some patients have managed for their insurance to refund a percentage of treatment, therefore, we recommend contacting them directly to see if there is something they can do about it.

You will be back to your normal life pretty soon. While being here you will be given very specific instructions about what to do and what not to do, how to be with your pets, how to expose to flowers, the type of food that you will need to avoid during some period after the transplant, etc. You don’t have to worry about this because you will be given very detailed information about this topic, but you will be back to your life soon, that is one of the goals of our method, to make the patient strong enough to go back to work as soon as possible.

Yes, as you know the main goal of the HSCT procedure in a patient with multiple sclerosis, is to shut down the immune system and to have it recover from very low levels to normal levels, and since it goes down, the patient loses the ability to defend against several bacteria, virus and so on. This is why we have a specific post-treatment vaccination schedule which will be provided while being here. Most transplant centers all over the world do recommend this vaccination schedule.