A kidney transplantation followed by a new stem cell therapy may allow some patients to forego medications that prevent their body from attacking the new organ. As reported by HealthDay News, the study from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that the new therapy may prevent patients from having to undergo the powerful side effects of post-surgery drugs.
The study, led by Dr. Samuel Strober, was small in size. Of the 12 kidney transplant patients he worked with, eight of the patients who underwent the stem cell therapy have now been living without immune-suppressing drugs for at least a year. For some, that drug-free stretch has lasted as long as three years, HealthDay said.
“Organ transplantation has been a very successful enterprise in treating people with organ failure,” Strober explained. “These have been life-saving procedures. But the price people still have to pay is lifelong use of medications that prevent rejection.”
Strober designed the method himself, and previously researched the combination of radiation, donor stem cells and antibodies for more than 30 years on mice. After the transplant patient receives radiation treatment targeted at the lymph nodes to weaken the immune system, antibodies are given. Ten days later, the organ donor’s stem cells are infused into the new kidney patient.
These stem cells ultimately differentiate and join with the transplant patient’s own immune system, Strober said. This makes the patient’s body more receptive to the donor kidney.
HealthDay noted that kidney transplantation is a common procedure in the United States, but that the lifelong cocktail of drugs can be both cumbersome and dangerous. Side effects include an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease and infection.
