Bone Marrow Transplant News and Research

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Scientists study repeating patterns in nature to better understand role of immune system in cancer

Can the patterns in tree branches or the meandering bends in a river provide clues that could lead to better cancer therapies? According to a new study from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, these self-similar, repeating patterns in nature known as fractals help scientists better understand how the immune system is organized and may one day be used to help improve stem cell transplant outcomes in leukemia patients by predicting the probability of transplant complications.

2 May 2013

SCCA pioneers new transplant procedures to reduce need for matching bone marrow donors

Patients from ethnic minority and mixed-racial backgrounds are less likely to receive a lifesaving bone marrow transplant than Caucasian patients with the same disease due to lack of matching donors, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

19 Apr 2013

New immunotherapies are seldom developed for childhood cancer

More often than not, cancer immunotherapies that work in adults are used in modified ways in children. Seldom are new therapies developed just for children, primarily because of the small number of pediatric patients relative to the adult cancer patient population.

9 Apr 2013

Doctors give new hope for leukemia patients

Leukemia patients receive a bone marrow transplant, which allows them to build a "new" immune system. However, this immune system not only attacks cancer cells but healthy tissue too.

3 Apr 2013

Study provides important insight into how BMT treatment works in patients with MS

A new study by Multiple Sclerosis researchers at three leading Canadian centres addresses why bone marrow transplantation has positive results in patients with particularly aggressive forms of MS.

27 Mar 2013

Researchers expand hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow transplantation

More than 50,000 stem cell transplants are performed each year worldwide. A research team led by Weill Cornell Medical College investigators may have solved a major issue of expanding adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) outside the human body for clinical use in bone marrow transplantation -- a critical step towards producing a large supply of blood stem cells needed to restore a healthy blood system.

25 Mar 2013

Investigators examine effectiveness of probiotics for cancer treatment

One may not think of probiotics -- like those found in yogurt that promote good digestive health -- as a weapon used in the fight against cancer. But that is the focus of investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, who are examining the effectiveness of probiotics as they relate to the outcomes of bone marrow transplant for patients with blood cancers.

21 Mar 2013

Media examine reaction to, potential implications of 'functional cure' of infant born with HIV

"The remarkable case of a baby being cured of HIV infection in the United States using readily available drugs has raised new hope for eradicating the infection in infants worldwide, but scientists say it will take a lot more research and much more sensitive diagnostics before this hope becomes a reality," Reuters reports.

6 Mar 2013

Prompt antiretroviral therapy may help infants clear the HIV and achieve long-term remission

A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins Children's Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School describe the first case of a so-called "functional cure" in an HIV-infected infant. The finding, the investigators say, may help pave the way to eliminating HIV infection in children.

4 Mar 2013

Global inhibition of all Notch signals would not be safe after bone marrow transplantation

Bone marrow transplant is a key treatment for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other blood disorders. University of Michigan researchers have discovered that inhibiting a signaling pathway in some of the transplanted cells could prevent the most serious potential complications of the procedure, a conflict between the transplanted cells and the recipient's own tissue called graft-versus-host disease.

2 Mar 2013

University of Granada’s melatonin gel effective against mucositis

Mucositis is one of the most frequent side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in cancer patients and currently cannot be treated. Investigators at the University of Granada have patented a melatonin gel that is 100% effective against this inflammatory reaction.

15 Feb 2013

Novel way to engineer specialized immune cells targeted by the AIDS virus

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a novel way to engineer key cells of the immune system so they remain resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

23 Jan 2013

Over-expression of NEK2 in cancer cells significantly enhances drug resistance

Increased NEK2 gene expression linked to increased drug resistance, faster cancer growth, and poorer patient outcome - The finding may improved diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer care and could lead to improved cancer therapies

16 Jan 2013

Markey practitioner receives Lexington Cancer Foundation grant to continue JSJ program

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center's Jennifer Bradley has received funding from the Lexington Cancer Foundation to continue the Jin Shin Jyutsu program in 2013.

4 Jan 2013

High-risk leukemia patients respond to novel drug

A third of adult leukemia patients given the novel drug quizartinib during a phase II study have achieved a composite response of either complete remission, or remission with incomplete platelet recovery or incomplete hematologic recovery, report US researchers.

14 Dec 2012

Quizartinib shows promise against acute myeloid leukemia in Phase II trial

A new drug for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) marked by a specific type of genetic mutation has shown surprising promise in a Phase II clinical trial.

11 Dec 2012

Vorinostat reduces risk of graft-vs.-host disease from bone marrow transplant treatments

A new class of drugs reduced the risk of patients contracting a serious and often deadly side effect of lifesaving bone marrow transplant treatments, according to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

10 Dec 2012

Lymphopenia driven diseases and the orphan drug industry: an interview with Damian Marron, CEO of Cytheris

Lymphopenia is when you lack the T cells of your immune system. T cells are very important for controlling infection. Probably the most known cause of lymphopenia is HIV.

23 Nov 2012

Study to discover exactly how intravenous immune globulin treatments work

Immune globulin replacement began decades ago as a treatment for patients who could not make their own protective antibodies, but has proven to have much broader benefits than originally expected.

22 Nov 2012

CIBMTR renews Stem Cell Therapeutics Outcomes Database contract with HRSA

The Medical College of Wisconsin Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research successfully competed for, and was awarded, renewal of the Stem Cell Therapeutics Outcomes Database contract with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

3 Nov 2012