Transplant News and Research

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High-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant cures testicular cancer

Testicular cancer patients who do not respond to traditional therapy can be cured with high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, according to an Indiana University School of Medicine report in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

26 Jul 2007

Court throws lifeline to seriously ill baby

A seriously ill baby girl has been given a lifeline by a high court in Britain.

21 Jul 2007

Xenotransplantation from pigs getting closer

Experiments using pigs genetically engineered for compatibility with the human immune system have raised hopes that cross-species transplantation could soon become an option for patients with diabetes and other currently incurable diseases.

20 Jul 2007

New method of adult stem cell therapy to grow cornea stem cells

A new method of adult stem cell growth, designed in the Area of Cellular Therapy of the University Clinic (University of Navarra), has demonstrated its efficacy for its capacity to grow cornea stem cells.

20 Jul 2007

Organ donation should be a presumption says UK's top medical officer

Britain's chief medical officer says anyone who dies should be presumed to have agreed to donate their organs unless they have specifically said otherwise.

17 Jul 2007

Special patch improves heart function after heart attacks

Researchers in the U.S. have developed a special patch which regenerates cardiac cells after a heart attack; when the patch is placed on the damaged area of the heart it improves heart function.

17 Jul 2007

First mouse model of lung transplantation

Lung transplants have been performed successfully for more than 20 years in humans but never before in mice – until now.

12 Jul 2007

Neural stem cells for Parkinson's disease

A University of South Florida neuroscientist reports that the cutting-edge research study of human stem cells in primates with Parkinson's disease is compelling on several fronts , particularly how the transplanted cells did their job of easing disease symptoms.

11 Jul 2007

ERG gene's activity points to more lethal subtype of acute myeloid leukemia

A new study shows that the activity of a particular gene can identify people who have a more lethal form of acute myeloid leukemia, singling out those patients who should receive more intense therapy.

10 Jul 2007

Etravirine reduces HIV viral loads when taken with Prezista

The experimental antiretroviral drug etravirine, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, greatly reduces HIV viral loads in people with a history of drug resistance when taken in combination with Tibotec's antiretroviral Prezista, according to two studies published Saturday in the journal The Lancet.

10 Jul 2007

New insight into neural stem cells

Scientists have discovered that adult neural stem cells, which exist in the brain throughout life, are not a single, homogeneous group.

9 Jul 2007

Cancer risk in HIV, transplant patients

HIV/AIDS and kidney transplant patients are at much greater risk of contracting 20 different types of cancer than the general population, according to a land mark paper in The Lancet.

8 Jul 2007

Live donors have genuine concerns with insurance problems

According to a new review in American Journal of Transplantation, people who donate their kidney or part of their liver to help someone else may themselves encounter difficulty with life and health insurance, despite insurance companies saying otherwise.

4 Jul 2007

Stem cell procedure successfully treats amyloidosis patients

Researchers from the Stem Cell Transplant Program and the Amyloid Treatment and Research Program at Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) have found that tandem cycles of high-dose chemotherapy and blood stem cell transplantation can help treat patients with immunoglobulin-light chain (AL) Amyloidosis who did not respond to initial treatment with this method.

4 Jul 2007

Cardiac surgery in patients with liver cirrhosis

A new study on the outcome of cardiac surgery in patients with liver cirrhosis found that the surgery can safely be performed in patients with milder disease, while those with more severe cirrhosis are less likely to survive.

4 Jul 2007

Elimination of Chagas disease by 2010

A new effort to eliminate Chagas disease by 2010 will be launched tomorrow at a WHO meeting of disease experts and partners.

3 Jul 2007

Call for change in regulations surrounding xenotransplantation

A new article in The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics calls for a change in the regulations surrounding xenotransplantation, the transplanting of animal cells, tissues or organs into humans.

29 Jun 2007

Link between ciliary signaling and cancer

Submarines have periscopes. Insects have antennae. And increasingly, biologists are finding that most normal vertebrate cells have cilia, small hair-like structures that protrude like antennae into the surrounding environment to detect signals that control cell growth.

29 Jun 2007

Summer's here so look out for Legionnaires disease

Summer's here and the living isn't always so easy especially if youre in the hospital. Patients who are vulnerable to infection run a greater risk of contracting Legionnaires disease, a severe form of pneumonia, during warm, humid weather, according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Jun 2007

Transplant of angina patients' purified stem cells provides symptom relief

The first U.S. study to transplant a potent form of purified adult stem cells into the heart muscle of patients with severe angina provided evidence that the procedure is safe and produced a reduction in angina pain as well as improved functioning in patients' daily lives, reports the lead researcher at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

27 Jun 2007