Biologists cite way to multiply blood stem cells
Cambridge research may aid bone marrow transplants
By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff | January 23, 2006
Biologists announced yesterday a way to dramatically expand populations of blood stem cells, a discovery that could improve bone marrow transplants and make them available to more patients.
Bone marrow transplants save the lives of thousands of Americans every year, mainly cancer patients, but many others are denied treatment because the cells that give the transplants their regenerative power — blood stem cells — are quite rare, and doctors have no way of substantially increasing their number before giving a transplant to a patient.
One of the most immediate applications of multiplying blood stem cells would be to make the blood taken from umbilical cords at birth more widely usable as an alternative source of stem cells for patients awaiting bone marrow transplants, said Dr. Eva Guinan, associate director for clinical and translational research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Cord blood has blood stem cells, but not enough to help many adults. Thousands of Americans die every year waiting for a bone marrow transplant.
The technology could also have a wide range of other applications, improving the safety of current procedures and making new ones possible, said Guinan, who is also a bone marrow transplant doctor at Children’s Hospital Boston.