16 Aplastic Anemia Patients Free Of Disease After Bone Marrow Transplant and Chemo

Johns Hopkins: Physicians at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have successfully treated 16 patients with a rare and lethal form of bone marrow failure called severe aplastic anemia using partially matched bone marrow transplants followed by two high doses of a common chemotherapy drug. In a report on the new transplant-chemo regimen, published online Dec. 22, 2016, in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the Johns Hopkins team says that more than a year after their transplants, all of the patients have stopped taking immunosuppressive drugs commonly used to treat the disorder and have no evidence of the disease.

Researchers discover molecule that accelerates tissue regeneration after bone marrow transplants

Dallas: A joint investigation including UT Southwestern Medical Center has found a molecule that may play a significant role in accelerating cell recovery following bone marrow transplants, liver disease, and colon disease. The collaborative effort by UT Southwestern, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Kentucky identified an enzyme named 15-PGDH that regulates tissue regeneration in multiple organs. By blocking 15–PGDH in mice with the newly discovered molecule, SW033291, the researchers found that they can rescue damaged bone marrow, liver tissue, and colon tissue. Tissue regeneration is important to recovery from injury, disease, and certain medical treatments.

Rabbit virus improves bone marrow transplants, kills some cancer cells

Florida: University of Florida Health researchers have discovered that a rabbit virus can deliver a one-two punch, killing some kinds of cancer cells while eliminating a common and dangerous complication of bone marrow transplants. For patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma, a bone marrow transplant can be both curative and perilous. It replenishes marrow lost to disease or chemotherapy but raises the risk that newly transplanted white blood cells will attack the recipient’s body. Now researchers say the myxoma virus, found in rabbits, can do double duty, quelling the unwanted side effects of a bone marrow transplant and destroying cancer cells.

Bone Marrow Transplantation Shows Potential for Treating Adults with Severe Sickle Cell Disease

JAMA: Use of a lower intensity bone marrow transplantation method showed promising results among 30 patients (16-65 years of age) with severe sickle cell disease, according to a study in the July 2 issue of JAMA.

A Few Cells Could Prevent Bone Marrow Transplant Infections

Jefferson University. US: Researchers find clues for reducing infections after bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and lymphoma. Bone marrow transplantation is a life-saving therapy for patients with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma. However, the depletion of the patient’s immune system prior to transplantation can put patients at risk of for an infection by a virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) that can be life threatening in these immune-compromised individuals. Now, researchers have found that a very small subset of anti-viral immune cells, transplanted along with a donor’s blood stem cells, could be enough to fight and even prevent the disease caused by CMV, in research conducted in mice and published January 16th in the Journal of Immunology.

New test helps guide treatment for bone marrow transplant patients with graft vs. host disease

University of Michigan. US: Innovative scoring system uses “Ann Arbor GVHD score” to better predict how patients will respond, minimize side effects. A new test can guide treatment for patients with graft versus host disease (GVHD), an often life-threatening complication of bone marrow and stem cell transplants, according to research from the University of Michigan published in Lancet Haematology this month.

Youngest bone marrow transplant patients at higher risk of cognitive decline

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study identifies small group of patients at risk for intellectual decline after bone marrow transplantation; results set stage for new strategies to preserve IQ and fight cance.