The link....Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg:
From WRAL December 9th:
<<<Sisters Given Second Chance by
Cord Blood Transplants
DURHAM (WRAL) -- There is new hope for children born with genetic
diseases which in the past could not be treated. The blood from a
baby's umbilical cord can be used in life-saving transplants.
Duke University Medical Center is one of four cord blood banks in the
nation. Thanks to cord blood transplants, two local sisters have a
chance to live healthy lives.
Hannah and Cassidy Gosey were born with Hurler's Syndrome, a
genetic disease that affects the metabolism.
"Without this transplant, her chance of life is only seven to ten years of
age," Mother Kim Gosey says. "And this is her second chance at life."
Hannah Gosey received a cord blood transplant last year when she
was six-months-old. The process is like a blood transfusion, and it's
not painful.
Umbilical cord blood contains rich, immature cells, the same found in
bone marrow.
Patients who need a bone marrow transplant, but cannot find a
donor, can receive a cord blood transplant instead.
Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg describes the advantage. "It makes sense to go
quickly to transplant and not to wait several months before you find a
donor. And in those settings, cord blood is readily available,"
Kurtzberg says.>>>>>.
The first study, led by Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D., Director of the
Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Duke University
Medical Center, was conducted to evaluate the clinical utility of the
AastromReplicell(TM) System to increase the transplantation dose of
cord blood cells for pediatric patients. The trial enrolled 25 patients and
showed that use of the AastromReplicell(TM) System to increase the
number of cells available for transplant could enable similar engraftment
times to those seen when a larger dose of unexpanded cells is available
and used. Although results are preliminary, the study also suggests an
apparent improvement in the 100-day post transplant survival rates for
the study patients when compared to historical control patients. |
