A CAPSULE of frozen stem cell “expanders” that replaces the need for two cord blood matches to cure certain cancers may allow many of the 40,000 people worldwide who miss out on a bone marrow transplant each year to undergo the procedure.
As well as making transplants safer, cheaper and reducing recovery time, Geelong biotech company Cytomatrix says the world-first $6.5 million technology looks likely to eradicate infections in chemotherapy patients after successful human trials in the US.
Leukaemias and lymphomas are typically why cord blood transplants are needed to replace bone marrow damaged by chemotherapy or disease.
Commonly, there are not enough stem cells in donated cord blood for a transplant.
Cytomatrix chief scientific officer Mark Kirkland said theirs was the first “off-the-shelf” system creating enough stem cells from an unmatched sample.
“The expander cells are only there temporarily to provide a boost or a support during the transplant, then disappear,” Mr Kirkland said.
“That’s enough to get the patient through the really dangerous period.
“It takes 26 days for double cord blood transplants to engraft, but with our product it will take 16 days, reducing the risk of infection.”
More human clinical trials are planned for next year.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, which pioneered bone marrow transplants, plans to use Cytomatrix’s technology in two clinical trials, including one on Australian chemotherapy patients next year.
Originally published asBreakthrough in bone marrow transplant