Bone Marrow Transplant News and Research

RSS

Simple strategies prevent bloodstream infections and save hundreds of patient lives

Following some basic rules of central line hygiene and maintenance, Johns Hopkins Children's Center and 87 other pediatric hospitals have, over five years, saved hundreds of patient lives and more than $100 million by preventing nearly 3,000 central line bloodstream infections, hospital officials announced on Monday, Sept. 12.

16 Sep 2011

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation for Accentia's Revimmune to prevent GVHD

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and its majority-owned subsidiary, Biovest International, Inc., today jointly announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Revimmune, the Company's proprietary system-of-care based on high-dose administration of Cytoxan, for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following bone marrow transplant.

14 Sep 2011

Researchers discover new genetic defect that predisposes people to leukemia, myelodysplasia

A new genetic defect that predisposes people to acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia has been discovered. The mutations were found in the GATA2 gene. Among its several regulatory roles, the gene acts as a master control during the transition of primitive blood-forming cells into white blood cells.

5 Sep 2011

Plerixafor drug shows promise against WHIM syndrome

A new study reports that a drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant may also have promise for treating people who have a rare immune deficiency known as WHIM syndrome.

3 Sep 2011

Jefferson's two-step bone marrow transplant procedure holds promise for cancer patients

Half-matched bone marrow or stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients have typically been associated with disappointing clinical outcomes. However, a clinical trial conducted at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson testing its unique, two-step half-match procedure has produced some promising results: the probability of overall survival was 45 percent in all patients after three years and 75 percent in patients who were in remission at the time of the transplant.

2 Sep 2011

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Gene therapy can offer a cure for a rare condition that causes children’s immune systems to fail. In this rare condition, known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), inherited genetic mutations mean that babies are unable to fight off infection, severely limiting their chances of surviving more than a few years. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare genetic disorder estimated to affect between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 live births

26 Aug 2011

Study: Bone marrow transplant offers new hope for patients with high-risk leukemia

Bone marrow transplant survival more than doubled in recent years for young, high-risk leukemia patients treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with patients who lacked genetically matched donors recording the most significant gains. The results are believed to be the best ever reported for leukemia patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation.

15 Jul 2011

Transplants with half-matched bone marrow or cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue

Identifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective antirejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy.

8 Jul 2011

Half-matched transplants widen donor pool for leukemia and lymphoma

7 Jul 2011

New model of health care delivery relies on active participation of patients and caregivers

A new model of care developed for patients at the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has led to improved patient experience, lower costs and better patient outcomes.

24 Jun 2011

Twelve institutions receive NPCRC and American Cancer Society grants for palliative care research

The American Cancer Society and the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC) are awarding $2 million in research grants to researchers at 12 institutions for studies aimed at reducing suffering for seriously ill patients and their family caregivers.

22 Jun 2011

Scientists identify potential target for reversing deadly blood infection sepsis

By digging a little deeper, researchers may have found a potential target for reversing the deadly blood infection sepsis.

13 Jun 2011

Researchers unearth secret of immune system's success

After eight years of work, researchers have unearthed what has been a well-kept secret of our immune system's success. The findings published online on June 9th in Immunity, a Cell Press publication, offer an explanation for how specialized immune cells are able to kill infected or cancerous cells without killing themselves in the process.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 10 Jun 2011

$Stem cell transplant may help promote bone fracture healing$

Stem cell transplant may help promote bone fracture healing

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown in an animal study that transplantation of adult stem cells enriched with a bone-regenerating hormone can help mend bone fractures that are not healing properly.

6 Jun 2011

Media outlets examine case of man cured of HIV, leukemia through bone marrow transplant

In a special report, Reuters examines the case of Timothy Ray Brown, who was cured of HIV and leukemia after undergoing "a bone marrow transplant using cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation, known as CCR5 delta 32," which researchers knew conveyed resistance to HIV infection.

3 Jun 2011

New technique offers successful bone marrow, organ transplant for patients with autoimmune diseases

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered a method to quickly and exponentially grow regulatory T-cells - also known as "suppressor cells." The new process enables replication of the cells by tens of millions in several weeks, a dramatic increase over previous duplication methods. Historically, regulatory T-cells have been difficult to replicate.

19 May 2011

Karmanos Cancer Institute raises funds for patient care and research

More than 450 guests attended the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute's 29th Annual Dinner gala on Saturday, April 30, at the beautiful General Motors Heritage Center, in Sterling Heights. Dan Akerson, chairman and chief executive officer for General Motors Company, and his wife Karin, chaired the event.

9 May 2011

Karmanos receives $50,000 GM Foundation grant for cancer research

The General Motors Foundation awarded the Karmanos Cancer Institute a $50,000 grant Saturday evening for research to help the nationally renowned Detroit-based center in its work toward curing and treating cancer.

2 May 2011

Roswell Park Cancer Institute named Blue Distinction Center for Transplants

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has been named a Blue Distinction Center for Transplants® by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York for demonstrating better overall quality of care and patient results in bone marrow/stem cell (autologous and allogeneic) procedures.

22 Apr 2011

Sequencing the genomes of cancer patients help doctors decide the best course of treatment

Two new studies highlight the power of sequencing cancer patients' genomes as a diagnostic tool, helping doctors decide the best course of treatment and researchers identify new cancer susceptibility mutations that can be passed from parent to child.

20 Apr 2011