http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within six months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Children who received donor cells were twice as likely to be readmitted as children who received their own stem cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-majority-children-readmitted-hospital-stem.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:30:01 EST news285956728 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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-method-blood-stem-cells-bone.html Medical research Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:42:26 EST news283095727 A signaling molecule that helps stem cells survive in the naturally low-oxygen environment inside the bone marrow may hold clues to helping the cells survive when the going gets worse with age and disease, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-molecule-stem-cells-focus-bone.html Medical research Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:30:19 EST news281964592 In research that could one day improve the success of stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, scientists have found that distinct niches exist in bone marrow to nurture different types of blood stem cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-distinct-niches-bone-marrow-nurture.html Medical research Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:00:40 EST news280918573 (Medical Xpress)—Before all the excitement about embryonic stem cells, doctors were using hematopoetic – that is, blood-forming—stem cells. Hematopoetic stem cells can replenish all the types of cells in the blood, and are the centerpiece of transplantation as treatment for diseases such as multiple myeloma or leukemia. They can come from two different places: directly from the marrow of a donor's hip bone, or indirectly from the donor's blood after a drug nudges the stem cells out of the bone marrow. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-landmark-blood-stem-cell-transplant.html Medical research Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:20:01 EST news276509199 New research examining the role of race and ethnicity in an individual's decision to become a donor for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) identifies several factors associated with varied participation rates in national donor registries across racial/ethnic groups. Results of this first-of-its-kind study are published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cultural-social-factors-barriers-minority.html Other Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:26:19 EST news275228760 An experimental drug combination for preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was not significantly better than the standard regimen on key endpoints, according to a report of a phase 3 trial at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-experimental-graft-vs-host-disease-treatment-equivalent.html Cancer Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:02:54 EST news274381362 Researchers from John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of the nation's 50 best cancer centers, played an important role in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 18 that may change the current blood and marrow transplantation practices. The phase 3, multicenter study compared harvesting stem cells from bone marrow rather than blood and suggests there are benefits to both approaches, but no survival differences between the two methods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-groundbreaking-transplant.html Medical research Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:33:42 EST news272626396 The brain's key "breeder" cells, it turns out, do more than that. They secrete substances that boost the numbers and strength of critical brain-based immune cells believed to play a vital role in brain health. This finding adds a new dimension to our understanding of how resident stem cells and stem cell transplants may improve brain function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-natural-brain-immune-cells-tissue.html Neuroscience Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:00:17 EST news270017832 A team of scientists led by a bone marrow transplant researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has shed new light on why most bone marrow transplant patients who receive tissue-matched cells from unrelated donors still suffer acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The answer appears to lie in the discovery of previously undetected genetic differences in the DNA of patients and unrelated marrow donors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-genetic-clues-bone-marrow-transplant.html Medical research Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:31:38 EST news265977084 Small but significant breakthrough studies on people who have been able to overcome or control HIV were presented Thursday at a major world conference on ways to stem the three-decade-old disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-paths-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:36:09 EST news262542964 Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have opened a clinical trial to test the theory that giving a patient a new immune system can cure severe cases of Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-clinical-trial-advanced-crohn-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:41:46 EST news262266094 Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center's Bone Marrow Transplant Program have demonstrated that the use of antibodies derived from rabbits can improve the survival and relapse outcomes of leukemia and myelodysplasia patients receiving a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-antibodies-rabbits-survival-relapse-outcomes.html Medical research Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:46:28 EST news260819182 A new cancer drug with remarkably few side effects is dramatically improving survival in Hodgkin lymphoma patients who fail other treatments and are nearly out of options. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-drug-survival-hodgkin-lymphoma-patients.html Cancer Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:44:47 EST news260012675 (Medical Xpress) -- Two people in Scotland have received stem cell transplants into their eyes in a clinical trial that is aimed at restoring vision in people that suffer some degree of blindness due to damage to the cornea. One of the patients has agreed to have their name released; Sylvia Paton, of Edinburgh. She suffers from a hereditary disease called aniridia which causes incomplete formation of the iris and leads to damage to the cornea. In Mrs. Paton’s case, the condition led to havening no iris at all in one eye and just ten percent vision, along with a heightened sensitivity to light. She received the transplant in February (performed by Dr. Ashish Agrawal) but neither she nor her team of doctors will know how effective the treatment has been for many more months. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-patients-scotland-stem-cell-transplants.html Ophthalmology Tue, 22 May 2012 06:36:59 EST news256887395 A new study from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, shows that MAL3-101, a recently developed inhibitor of the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), appears to have potent anti-tumor effects on multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. Despite aggressive modes of treatments, myeloma ultimately remains incurable. The disease has a high incidence in the communities served by SUNY Downstate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-effective-treatment-multiple-myeloma.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:02:38 EST news245347352 Ever since scientists started talking about the potential of embryonic stem cells, curing Type 1 diabetes has been a dear dream. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-stem-cell-therapy-diabetes.html Medical research Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:40:01 EST news240239638 Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a serious risk in many kinds of cell transplants, including for stem cell transplants carried out when stem cells are partially depleted of conventional T cells, which play an important role in the immune system. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have tested a process by which T regulatory cells (Tregs) can be "expanded" to help prevent GVHD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-regulatory-t-cell-clue-gvhd.html Medical research Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:43:41 EST news239280207 Human breastmilk has the potential to help people suffering from diseases including Parkinson's disease and diabetes, according to a researcher at The University of Western Australia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-breastmilk-natural-stem-cell-therapy.html Medical research Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:44:40 EST news238232669 Half-matched bone marrow or stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients have typically been associated with disappointing clinical outcomes. However, a clinical trial conducted at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson testing its unique, two-step half-match procedure has produced some promising results: the probability of overall survival was 45 percent in all patients after three years and 75 percent in patients who were in remission at the time of the transplant. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-half-match-bone-marrow-transplant-procedure.html Cancer Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:45:01 EST news234110676 According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-stem-cell-mobilization-therapy-safe.html Medical research Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:40:07 EST news232283023 Stem cell therapy may restore cognition in patients with brain cancer who experience functional learning and memory loss often associated with radiation treatment, according to a laboratory study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-stem-cell-treatment-cognitive-function.html Cancer Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:57:16 EST news229769810 Researchers at the John Theurer Cancer Center recently published a study delineating the connection of social support to distress after stem cell transplants. Scott Rowley, M.D., Chief, Blood & Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation Program, the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center contributed to the study which was led by Larissa E. Labay from Mt. Sinai. The study was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, a peer-reviewed publication produced by the American Psychological Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-cancer-highlight-importance-social.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:02:32 EST news229183339 Patients with a very aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma who receive a stem cell transplant after standard chemotherapy during their first remission have comparable survival rates to those who receive the same standard therapy alone and, if needed, a transplant when they relapse. These findings from a U.S. and Canadian clinical trial of 370 patients conducted at 40 clinical institutions were presented today by Patrick Stiff, MD, lead investigator and director, Loyola Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, at the annual meeting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-early-transplants-chemotherapy-transplant-nhl.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:32:22 EST news226571528