CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Advances in blood stem cell transplants now make it possible for people with blood cancers to get safe and effective “mismatched” transplants that will potentially cure their disease, new UVA Cancer Center research reveals. The advances will allow far more people to receive the lifesaving treatment.
Patients who could not find a perfect match traditionally have not received transplants because of the potential for graft-versus-host disease, according to a UVA Health release. This occurs when the immune system recognizes the transplanted cells as foreign and attacks them. This can be serious and, in some cases, even deadly.
The new study, however, found that a treatment approach using the drug cyclophosphamide can prevent most graft-versus-host disease. The researchers followed 145 patients who received the cyclophosphamide treatment and found that eight out of 10, or about 80%, were alive after a year. This is similar to the outcomes seen in studies of patients who receive fully matched transplants.
“This study is important because all patients, regardless of background, now have a stem cell or bone marrow transplant donor, a significant advance for our field, our patients and our community,” said Karen Ballen, MD, UVA Health’s Chief of Hematology/Oncology and Medical Director of Stem Cell Transplant. “At UVA Health, in the past year, all eligible patients for stem cell transplant were able to find a suitably matched donor.”
Click here for the full UVA Health release, and click here for the published study.
