April 14, 2003
The state of the art in stem cell transplantation
Ideas from the lab
Grace Kao, MD, and Jerome Ritz, MD, analyze stem cells.
Along with these main currents in transplant research are a variety of other studies aimed at boosting the procedure's advantages while reducing its risks. Jerome Ritz and his laboratory team are leading efforts to pinpoint genes involved in GVHD and the GVL effect and to identify the minute insignia on normal cells that mark them for attack by donor T cells. A recent gift from the Pasquarello family of Sudbury, Mass., has enabled the Institute to set up a system for collecting and analyzing blood samples for genes associated with GVHD.
Other researchers are seeking ways to diminish infection risk among transplant recipients. Many patients are now vaccinated against infectious agents before undergoing transplants. A clinical trial is also under way of a new antibiotic designed to prevent fungal infections. And a novel medication is successfully being tested for an infrequent, but potentially fatal, aftereffect of transplantation called hepatic veno-occlusive disease.
All these efforts are resulting in real, palpable progress and growing hope for transplant patients. Translating those advances into statistics, however, is difficult because much of the work is very recent and because researchers are sorting out the combinations of treatments that work best for specific diseases.
"We know that GVHD rates have dropped among those receiving related donor transplants from 60 to 70 percent 15 years ago to 10 to 30 percent today," Soiffer notes. "We're confident that the advances we're making now, because they're coming in so many different areas, will improve the outlook for transplant patients even more in the years ahead."
(This story first appeared in the Winter/Spring 2003 issue of Paths of Progress.)
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