Mini-transplants Join the Fight Against Cancer
A new form of blood transplant is improving the odds of leukemia and lymphoma patients. The so-called mini-transplant is showing enormous promise where traditional therapies have failed.
It involves using stem cells, the building blocks of bone marrow to regenerate the immune system. Instead of a bone marrow transplant, which requires a painful extraction of marrow from the hip and high dose chemotherapy -- mini-transplant patients receive a sibling or matched donor’s stem cells and low doses of chemotherapy. The result is much less toxicity.
" They’re not having mouth sores. They’re not having organ damage and they’re leaving the hospital several weeks earlier," says Dr. Karen Seiter of Westchester’s New York Medical College.
Patricia Bacon is one of those patients. The 56-year old nurse has non-hodgkins lymphoma and suffered debilitating side effects after having her own stem cells transplanted. When that transplant failed, she became part of a phase one clinical trial on mini-transplants. Her sister Terry was labeled a match after each of their six siblings took a blood test. Terry then traveled from North Carolina to donate her stem cells. It has meant a second chance for Pat. Her tumors have decreased by one third and she describes the side effects of the chemotherapy as mild.
Experts say the so-called mini-transplant has the potential to become the gold standard in the treatment of high-risk leukemia and lymphoma patients. But they still carry risks, namely graph versus host disease, where the donated stem cells attack the patient’s organs. While the problem can be treated, the transplants are currently only being used in high-risk patients. More research is needed to determine whether standard and low-risk patients can benefit.
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