Boost for transplant patients
Updated on 15 August 2007
Transplant patients who develop a form of cancer have been given new hope.
Up to 10% of patients who undergo an organ transplant can develop a type of cancer called post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD).
Experts believe it is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is carried by more than 90% of the population and which is better known for causing glandular fever.
In many people, the virus does not cause illness but it can lead to cancer in transplant patients, whose immune systems are suppressed due to anti-rejection drugs.
Now, experts have found that injecting patients with blood cells from healthy donors can cause tumours to shrink or disappear.
A team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh generated killer T cells from healthy blood donors and injected them into 33 patients with PTLD, including 10 children.
Killer T cells are a type of white blood cell that spread around the body and attack virus-infected cells.
The study, published in the journal Blood, found that patients given the treatment showed an "encouraging" response.
The study found that 64% of patients were responding well to the T cell treatment five weeks after being given it. After six months, the response rate was 52%.
A total of 14 patients achieved complete remission from their cancer and three showed a partial response (their tumour shrank by 50% or more). A total of 16 had no response after six months (five died before completing treatment).
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