From Palliative Care to New Hope: A Pakistani Patient’s Journey to China for Lymphoma Treatment

For Muhammad, who is only 36 years old, the word "health" has become an unattainable luxury in the past few years.

Muhammad comes from Quetta, the "Fruit Garden" city in southwestern Pakistan, and is an ordinary support staff member of a local public hospital. In 2021, a diagnosis completely changed his life-Muhammad was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a highly aggressive blood cancer. In the days that followed, he underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy and endured unimaginable pain.

In 2024, Muhammad received another bone marrow transplant at the Aga Khan Hospital in his country. At that time, he placed all his hopes on the operation, thinking that he could slowly return to a healthy life as an ordinary person after the operation. However, fate gave him the cruelest response - the cancer recurred just 20 days later.

At that moment, it was not only physical bad news, but also the disillusionment of hope. For Muhammad, the only option left in Pakistan was palliative care. The so-called palliative care means that doctors no longer try to cure him, but only use drugs to relieve the pain caused by cancer. The attending doctor clearly told him: "There is nothing we can do. You have to go abroad to seek medical treatment. We can prepare the recommendation letter, but you have to find a hospital by yourself."

In this way, after passing the official approval from the National Medical Council of Pakistan, Muhammad began his cross-border medical journey with a glimmer of hope for survival.

The glimmer of light in a desperate situation—across the ocean, choose Jiahui

Among the destinations recommended by doctors, China is one of them, but it is not the only option. The destinations Muhammad searched for spanned half the world - Germany, Singapore, Austria, India, and even the United States and Australia. Every inquiry email sent is like an SOS bottle released. You don’t know who will see it, when it will be responded to, and more importantly, how the other party will respond.

"Hospitals in Germany responded very slowly, and the plans in Singapore and India were not clear enough," he recalled. "But one hospital responded quickly, communicated efficiently, and provided preliminary treatment suggestions. It was Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital." Out of eagerness for treatment and his initial impression of Jiahui, Muhammad made a decision quickly.

At the beginning of 2026, 36-year-old Muhammad flew to Shanghai accompanied by his family members, dragging his tired and painful body.

Receive CAR-T treatment in Jiahui

The examination results after admission confirmed the seriousness of the situation. He was diagnosed with stage 4B lymphoma, which had spread to his lungs, pleura and bones. Because it recurred just 20 days after the transplant, his cancer was clearly classified as "relapsed and refractory," meaning it was no longer responsive to conventional treatments. Not only that, the huge tumor also compressed the lungs and bones, and the pain kept Muhammad awake at night. Only high-dose painkillers and a variety of powerful analgesics could give him a moment of peace. In addition, accompanying symptoms include frequent high fevers, night sweats, and weight loss.

Fortunately, Muhammad came to a country that currently leads the world in CAR-T. According to the latest analysis published by the authoritative journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, China has led the world in the CAR-T field since 2016; as of October 2025, China has ranked first in the world in the number of clinical trials in this field. At the same time, the number of CAR-T products launched in China ranks second in the world only after the United States. Another study also pointed out that China's independently developed CAR-T therapy has achieved world-class clinical results in the field of hematological tumors. Since 2021, China has approved four locally developed CAR-T products for the treatment of lymphoma and myeloma, and their efficacy has reached global standards.

In early April, Muhammad started several weeks of CAR-T treatment at Jiahui International Cancer Center: from collecting his own T cells, to bridging therapy to control the tumor, to lymphodepleting chemotherapy and finally CAR-T cell reinfusion. In early May, preliminary PET-CT examination showed encouraging results of treatment - lymph node lesions shrank and the tumor marker lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) became normal. Not only have his indicators improved, but Muhammad's previously unbearable pain has also been significantly relieved. When he was admitted to the hospital, he needed to rely on high-dose analgesics and multiple sedatives to barely relieve pain; when he was discharged, he only needed to take two or three low-dose analgesics every 12 hours without any "breakthrough pain."

"I'm confident!" Muhammad in the CAR-T dedicated isolation ward

In view of the fact that Muhammad's visa is about to expire, the oncology team formulated a one-year review plan and follow-up medication recommendations for him so that he can return to Pakistan to continue monitoring his condition and taking correct medication.

Muhammad and Dr. Linli Xuan (middle) and Dr. Dong Yan (first from right) of Jiahui International Cancer Center

Communication beyond language, care across cultures

Physical pain is only part of the entire treatment process. The bigger challenge lies in the communication difficulties caused by different languages.

Muhammad’s native language is Urdu, a minority language, and English is not fluent, but it is the only language he uses to communicate with doctors. The entire treatment process not only involves a large number of English medical terms, which often makes him confused, but the patient himself cannot accurately convey the subtle physical feelings. Dr. Dong Yan, the attending physician, recalled: "Communication is the biggest difficulty. We often find that after we finish talking, he is completely confused and the information gap is very big."

But the Jiahui team didn’t let language get in the way of treatment. Doctors use translation software to convert every important sentence into Urdu. When the translator could not completely solve the problem, doctors even used the most primitive communication methods-gestures, eye gestures, and repeated confirmations. In addition, the doctors organized all important medical orders, treatment plans and precautions into written text so that Muhammad could translate them using a translator.

If communication can be half-understood and half-guessed due to language barriers, in terms of diet, there is no room for ambiguity due to the patient's religious beliefs. Muhammad made it clear at the beginning that he hoped the hospital would provide him with food in a dry cooking method and present it with the best taste. To this end, the restaurant team specially customized a halal diet for him.

Fortunately, Muhammad had a good appetite during his hospitalization and continued to eat six eggs every day, which undoubtedly accelerated his recovery.

"My daughter gave me the confidence to treat!"

precious luggage

On May 8, Muhammad boarded a plane back home.

Although the journey of seeking medical treatment overseas was not smooth sailing, what made him happy was not only the effectiveness of the treatment and the significant relief of pain, but also the countless moments of being tolerated, understood and encouraged. Every kind smile, every halal meal cooked with care, every repeated confirmation by the translator, every physical interaction without the translator - these sincere and simple connections finally transcend the language barrier.

Perhaps these precious moments are themselves part of the healing process.

"After returning home, I will follow the plan prescribed by Dr. Jiahui for review and self-cultivation. I will go back to work after I fully recover. I hope everything goes well. Inshallah - as the Lord wishes."