Research

Unrelated Donor Transplantation
Researchers continue to make progress and are currently working to reduce side effects when using marrow from unrelated donors. They are also investigating new drugs that may reduce graft-vs-host disease (GVHD), a potentially major complication of BMT in which the donor cells recognize the body's own cells as foreign and trigger the immune system to attack those cells.

Metabolic Disorders
Fairview-University Blood and Marrow Transplant Services is a world leader in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat metabolic disorders. The International Storage Disease Collaborative Study Group, an international group of researchers and clinicians dedicated to advancing treatment for inherited metabolic storage diseases through collaborative studies and data sharing, is based at the University of Minnesota. Scientists from the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center and Medical School provide additional expertise in the latest technology in treating these diseases.

Cord Blood Research
We are one of six BMT centers approved for the National Cord Blood Transplant Study, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. The purpose of this four-year study is to critically evaluate techniques of collecting, storing and transplanting umbilical cord blood, and evaluate long-term survival rates of cord blood transplant patients. University of Minnesota scientists are also investigating the transplantation of two partially matched cord blood collections from different donors to increase the number of stem cells transplanted to adult patients. Another approach for adult patients involves using a lower-dose chemotherapy and radiation treatment prior to cord blood transplant for patients who cannot tolerate the higher doses used in conventional transplants. Both studies show promising results with high rates of engraftment and a low incidence of graft-versus-host disease.

Immunotherapy to Prevent Relapse
University of Minnesota researchers are incorporating immunotherapy into the transplant process. The goal is to use these therapies pre- or post-transplant to enhance the effectiveness of the transplant and improve patient outcomes. Examples of immunotherapies include the use of Natural Killer (NK) cells, Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and anti-tumor vaccines. Another approach studied by Paul Orchard, M.D., uses gene therapy to target the destruction of immune cells by “suicide genes” to better control graft-versus-host disease.

Jeffrey Miller, M.D., is evaluating NK cell infusions to fight cancer for patients with advanced acute myelogenous leukemia. A patient's own NK cells recognize a cancer tumor as the body's own and do not destroy it. Miller has found, however, that donor NK cells see the tumor cells as foreign, offering a potentially effective therapy. Future plans call for combining NK cell infusions with the best available stem cell transplant strategy to induce the most optimum clinical response. Ultimately, better control of the immune system holds great promise for improving patient outcomes.

University of Minnesota scientists continue to lead the nation in several areas of research to improve Fanconi Anemia (FA) patient outcomes, including: use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis to create a healthy HLA-matched sibling donor; multipotent adult stem cell therapy to treat other tissues of the body rather than just the marrow; hematopoietic stem cell gene correction in FA; and immune reconstitution to reduce the risk of infection after BMT.

Quality of Life
Another area of importance to University of Minnesota scientists is the quality of life post-transplant. Researchers want to understand what late effects patients are experiencing related to fertility, growth and development, potential chronic organ damage and risk of second cancers. Analyzing this information will help to guide treatment improvements and identify ways to help survivors cope with long-term complications.