--- title: At 62, His Leukemia Did Not Respond to Chemotherapy. Five Years After Transplant, He Reached a Major Recovery Milestone url: "https://www.yyhmedical.com/en/stories/elderly-aml-patient-five-year-survival-after-transplant" type: Article inLanguage: en-US disease: Acute Myeloid Leukemia treatment: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation datePublished: 2026-04-17 --- # At 62, His Leukemia Did Not Respond to Chemotherapy. Five Years After Transplant, He Reached a Major Recovery Milestone > Diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 62, he went through chemotherapy without remission and even an ICU stay before receiving a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant at Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital. Five years later, he remains disease-free and is once again enjoying retirement. Summary: In 2020, 62-year-old Mr. Liu (pseudonym) was preparing for surgery for varicose veins when abnormal blood test results led to an unexpected diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. Older age, failure to achieve remission with chemotherapy, and serious complications during treatment left him feeling hopeless at times. With his family’s support, he came to Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital, where Dr. Tong Wu’s team evaluated him and proceeded with a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant. After making it through the transplant unit, management of graft-versus-host disease, and years of follow-up, he has now passed the important five-year post-transplant milestone with stable blood counts and has returned to everyday life. His experience shows that age alone does not determine what treatment is possible, and that appropriate treatment, close medical care, and a strong partnership between patients, families, and clinicians can open new possibilities. In hematologic care, five years of disease-free survival is often regarded as an important milestone toward clinical cure. For a 62-year-old patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) whose disease had not gone into remission with chemotherapy and who had once required ICU care, reaching that milestone was especially hard-won. After undergoing a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant at Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital, he made it through those five years and recorded his own story of recovery - one shaped by perseverance and trust. ![3684402c-f9cf-40a4-beb5-d34daf00780c.png](https://gaobo-byh-h5.oss-accelerate.aliyuncs.com/images/20260912/addb6912e09734b3c48cde6d223cbfa8_20260912233937.png "addb6912e09734b3c48cde6d223cbfa8_20260912233937.png") Photo from his five-year post-transplant follow-up **My Recovery Story - Facing Leukemia in My 60s and Reaching the Five-Year Milestone** In September 2020, I was 62. I had imagined retirement would mean spending time with my grandchildren and traveling with my family. Then one diagnosis suddenly put everything on hold: acute myeloid leukemia. At the time, I was at a hospital in Beijing preparing for surgery for varicose veins that had bothered me for years. My preoperative blood tests showed a high white blood cell count and low platelets, and the doctor suggested a bone marrow test. I felt as though the ground had fallen away beneath me. At my age, chemotherapy was not only risky - it was exhausting. I did not achieve remission after either the first or second cycle. I even had a brief loss of consciousness and was admitted to the ICU. Once I stabilized, I was transferred back to the hematology chemotherapy unit, but I could no longer tolerate standard-dose chemotherapy, and the leukemia cells were still there. Lying in the laminar-flow ward and watching birds outside the window, I kept thinking: this cannot be how my life ends. My wife and daughter actively searched for other treatment options. They asked around and eventually found Dr. Tong Wu’s team at Beijing GoBroad Boren Hospital. They came back and told me the hospital could take my case and that a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant was possible. My daughter held my hand and said, “Dad, let’s give it a chance.” After one cycle of treatment at Boren Hospital, my bone marrow was MRD-negative. Then came donor matching, conditioning, and the stem cell infusion - a long process. I still remember the smell of disinfectant, all the tubes attached to my body, and the rash and diarrhea caused by graft-versus-host disease. I got through each of them. The hardest part was the month in the transplant unit. I was so weak that even taking a sip of water felt like a struggle. But I kept telling myself: now that I’ve chosen treatment, I cannot let my family’s tears or the medical team’s efforts be in vain. The day I left the transplant unit, the sunlight felt especially bright. Dr. Yongqiang Zhao told me that the donor stem cells had successfully engrafted and my blood counts were beginning to recover. To me, it felt as though a new blood-forming system had been planted inside my body. Over the five years since transplant, I have never taken recovery for granted. Regular follow-ups, a consistent routine, a balanced diet, and rehabilitation exercise became non-negotiable parts of my life. For the first three years, I would lose sleep before almost every checkup, terrified that the word “relapse” might return to my life. But with one reassuring test after another, my confidence gradually came back. Today, I am 67. I can walk with my wife - often around 15,000 steps a day - take my granddaughter to and from school, and even play chess with neighbors in our community. Looking back on these five years, there is one thing I want to tell other patients: age is never, by itself, a reason to give up. Leukemia once brought me to the lowest point of my life, but modern medicine and my family’s love helped pull me back. I am grateful to the part of me that kept going, to the medical team for their expertise, and to my family for never leaving my side. I have crossed the five-year milestone that, clinically, marks an important threshold toward cure. To everyone who is still on this road, I hope you too will one day look up and see your own clear sky after five years. ## Expert view A Message from the Medical Team: Age Is Not a Barrier - Patients and Clinicians Can Create New Possibilities Together. When we first met this patient, he was 62 and had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Older age, high-risk disease, and underlying health conditions all made his treatment particularly challenging. Older patients with AML often tolerate conventional chemotherapy less well and face a higher risk of relapse, with less favorable long-term outcomes. After repeated discussions with the patient and his family, we decided to pursue a more demanding but potentially more promising path: allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The transplant was not easy. Mucosal injury from conditioning, infection risk, and repeated fevers during bone marrow suppression tested both his resilience and our clinical judgment every day. Yet his engagement with treatment exceeded our expectations. He never complained. Even at the hardest moments, he would simply say quietly, “Doctor, I trust you. Thank you.” By day 14 after the stem cell infusion, his peripheral blood counts began to recover. By day 28, donor chimerism had reached full-donor status - evidence that the new hematopoietic system had successfully engrafted. But successful engraftment was only the first step. Managing graft-versus-host disease, preventing infection, and monitoring for relapse are all part of the long-term work after transplant. Over the past five years, he has followed medical advice closely and returned for every scheduled follow-up. His blood counts, bone marrow findings, donor chimerism, and viral load measurements have remained stable and within the expected range. Today marks a full five years since his transplant. In hematology, five years of disease-free survival is regarded as an important marker of clinical cure. For this patient, it means the leukemia has remained controlled over the long term and the donor-derived hematopoietic system has continued to function successfully. Medically, this is an excellent transplant outcome. But as a doctor, I see something more: a recovery made possible by patients, families, and clinicians working together with the same goal. To all patients living with a blood disorder, we would like to say: Age is not an absolute barrier, and courage can create possibilities. Advances in modern medicine - particularly in transplantation - are making treatment possible for more patients who might once have had very limited options. Congratulations to Mr. Liu, and thank you for the trust he placed in us. Five years is a milestone, not an endpoint. We hope the next five and ten years bring him continued health and peace of mind. > This content is published with the authorization of the patient and their family, intended solely to share real experiences and health knowledge. It does not constitute a recommendation of any treatment plan or medical diagnostic advice. For specific treatment, please follow the guidance of a professional physician. --- Original (HTML):https://www.yyhmedical.com/en/stories/elderly-aml-patient-five-year-survival-after-transplant This is a clean Markdown mirror for large language models; the original page is authoritative.