Transplant News and Research

RSS

Antimicrobial exposure may increase risk of allergies in children

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals and preservatives found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

20 Jun 2012

AstraZeneca, Rigel enter global license agreement for R256 inhaled JAK inhibitor to treat chronic asthma

AstraZeneca and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced an exclusive worldwide license agreement for the global development and commercialization of R256, Rigel's inhaled JAK inhibitor shown to inhibit IL-13 and IL-4 signalling, which is being investigated as a treatment for moderate to severe chronic asthma. In preclinical research, R256 has been shown to reduce airway inflammation and improve lung function.

19 Jun 2012

Many doctors report working even when ill

An unwavering work ethic is a hallmark of many health professionals. But a new survey finds that when a doctor is sick, staunch dedication can have unintended consequences.

19 Jun 2012

Heart transplant patients who develop restenosis after receiving a stent have poor long-term survival

Heart transplant patients are notorious for developing an aggressive form of coronary artery disease that can often result in heart failure, death or the need for repeat transplantation. The condition can also have a negative impact on future cardiac procedures, such as stenting.

19 Jun 2012

Allergy risk in children linked to antibacterials in personal-care products

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

19 Jun 2012

Midwest patient receives successful stem cell transplant to cure sickle cell disease

Chicagoan Ieshea Thomas is the first Midwest patient to receive a successful stem cell transplant to cure her sickle cell disease without chemotherapy in preparation for the transplant.

19 Jun 2012

Pediatric treatment regime for ALL patients improves chances of long-term survival

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), usually found in pediatric patients, is far more rare and deadly in adolescent and adult patients. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, child ALL patients have a higher than 80 percent remission rate, while the recovery rate for adults stands at only 40 percent.

18 Jun 2012

Updated results from two clinical trials of Bruton's ibrutinib for CLL/SLL

Pharmacyclics, Inc announced today at the 17th Congress of European Hematology Association updated results from two clinical trials of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, ibrutinib (PCI-32765), for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

18 Jun 2012

Impressive results from blinatumomab Phase 2 study on B-precursor ALL

At the 17th Congress of the European Hematology Association in Amsterdam Professor Max Topp of the University of Wuerzberg in Germany presents the impressive results with a bispecific antibody for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia patients.

18 Jun 2012

Scientists discover master regulator gene needed for development of M cells

Scientists have found a master regulator gene needed for the development of M cells, a mysterious type of intestinal cell involved in initiating immune responses.

18 Jun 2012

Urgent need for O Negative blood donations before the Olympics

New statistics from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) announced yesterday reveal a gap between demand and supply of blood type O Rh Negative (O Negative) during national celebrations and underline an urgent need for O Negative donors to come forward ahead of the Olympics next month.

16 Jun 2012

Novel technique can restore hand function in patients with spinal cord injury

Justin M. Brown, MD, reconstructive neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System, is one of only a few specialists in the world who have pioneered a novel technique to restore hand function in patients with spinal cord injury. In a delicate four-hour procedure, Brown splices together tiny nerve endings, only one millimeter in width, to help restore hand mobility. Most patients return home 24 hours after surgery.

16 Jun 2012

Osiris receives consent from NZ to market Prochymal for GvHD

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., announced today it has received consent from New Zealand to market its first-in-class stem cell therapy Prochymal (remestemcel-L), for the treatment of acute graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) in children.

15 Jun 2012

Transplantation of tissue-engineered vein is a success and offers hope for patients who lack suitable veins for dialysis or bypass surgery

The first biologically tissue-engineered vein grown from a patient’s own stem cells has been successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl with portal vein obstruction, dramatically enhancing her quality of life.

15 Jun 2012

Life-saving kidney transplants now available for older patients

In the past, a patient 55 or older had little or no chance of receiving a life-saving kidney transplant. But improvements in medicine have many doctors re-evaluating older patients who need a new organ.

15 Jun 2012

Study strengthens link between HHV-6B and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

A ten-year NIH-funded study has determined that a third of infants with prolonged seizures and fever suffer from either a new or reactivated roseola virus infection. Roseola viruses are the cause of the common childhood rash, but can also cause limbic encephalitis, a condition that frequently progresses to epilepsy. Investigators discovered one of the roseola viruses, human herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) in the blood of 32% of 169 infants with prolonged seizures, a condition known as status epilepticus.

15 Jun 2012

Theraclone Sciences commences TCN-202 Phase 1 trial in CMV infection

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, announced today first dosing of subjects in a Phase 1 clinical trial of TCN-202, a broadly protective, fully human monoclonal antibody in development for the treatment of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

15 Jun 2012

Updated survival data from Takeda’s brentuximab vedotin Phase II trial on HL

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, today announced updated survival data from a pivotal Phase II clinical trial of single-agent brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) showing that the median overall survival has not been reached after a 26.5 month median follow-up.

14 Jun 2012

Two video articles describe pre-surgical preparation of corneal tissue

Over 45,000 corneal transplant eye surgeries are performed in the US every year. On June 12, 2012, in an effort to standardize this complex procedure, two video articles describing pre-surgical preparation of corneal tissue were published in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

13 Jun 2012

Hepatocytes can create new liver system in mouse models

Researchers in Japan have found that hepatocytes, cells comprising the main tissue of the liver and involved in protein synthesis and storage, can assist in tissue engineering and create a "new liver system" in mouse models when donor mouse liver hepatocytes are isolated and propagated for transplantation.

12 Jun 2012