The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a $16.8 million, seven-year grant to launch a bicoastal research partnership between Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Cancer Consortium and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The collaboration, led by scientists at the Hutchinson Center, will develop molecular- and cell-based therapies for a range of blood diseases, with an initial focus on a life-threatening complication of stem-cell transplantation called thrombocytopenia. The condition, which is sometimes associated with abnormal bleeding, is caused by a delayed recovery of blood-clotting cells called platelets.
The problem is that some stem cell transplant patients, particularly those receiving stem cells from cord blood, often do not produce enough platelets in a timely fashion which puts them at risk for life-threatening bleeding. Platelet production can be delayed by several months in persons who receive a stem cell transplant to treat certain cancers. Transfusions can help, but the number of platelet donors is limited, transfusions carry a risk of blood-borne diseases, and patients who receive multiple transfusions can develop antibodies that destroy the platelets.
According to principal investigator Beverly Torok-Storb, Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Clinical Research Division, the goal is to control the process of blood cell production so that all types of blood cells - red cells to carry oxygen, white cells to fight infection and platelets to prevent bleeding - recover together within a few days.