「From basic university research to clinical application」
J-ARM（hereafter J）：While cell therapy is often thought of as a hurdle to overcome, recently we have seen an increase in the number of young doctors who have just started practicing who are considering cell therapy. What are they thinking about, and how are they actually tackling the treatment? In this interview, we would like to speak with Dr. Yoshitaka Arii, Director of Hanegi Veterinary Hospital in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, as a representative of such young doctors. Dr. Arii, please give us your address.
Dr. Arii（hereafter Arii）：Thank you for your time.
J：The doctor introduced cell therapy in April of this year. It has now been 8 months since he started treatment.
Arii：I opened the clinic in January 2012, three years ago, after less than 10 years of working as a branch director of a corporate hospital, including a night emergency hospital. It was right around the third year after the opening of the clinic that I started cell therapy.
J： How did you come to know about cell therapy?
Arii：I first learned about them through an article in a magazine to which I subscribed. At the time, I was just taking it as a piece of information. At the time, I was just taking it as a piece of information. In terms of contacts, the hospital where I worked in the past introduced a cell therapy system. However, when I was working there, the doctor in charge had retired and the cell therapy system was not in operation. I was only aware that there was a UV lamp on the clean bench.
However, after that, I had opportunities to listen to professors who were in charge of cell therapy, actually attended regenerative medicine conferences, and gathered information with some interest. I think I was also influenced by the fact that some of my good friends at university were involved in academic research. They were doing research on genetic engineering and organ regeneration, and I think I was influenced by them to no small extent. I also entered clinical practice and tried to study such things on the side, but I never had a chance to actually come into contact with them.
J： I understand that you yourself have experience in cell culture at university.
Arii：Yes, I did. I belonged to a basic research laboratory, where we used to check cells with electron microscopes, perform PCR, and other such things that I have forgotten a lot (laughs). I had forgotten cell culture to some extent because it had been 12 years, but I had done it in the past, so it was an easy place to start.
J：I guess it reminds me of a feeling. What was the deciding factor when the teacher introduced the system?
Arii：One of the reasons was that there were not many doctors in the Setagaya area or in the surrounding area who were providing such services. We also hoped that we would be able to help owners who were eagerly searching for a treatment for their children, as they could pick up information from hospital websites on the Internet.
J：What were your initial expectations for cell therapy when you were thinking about it?
Arii：In the beginning, you hoped to be able to provide stem cell therapy for chronic renal failure in cats. That was the starting point, but from the cases of patients coming to the hospital, I thought it would be the lymphocyte-based cancer treatment that would actually be in operation. Despite the large number of animals with cancer soon after the hospital opened, I felt that there were a certain number of owners who were not aggressive about surgery or chemotherapy.