Scientists Reveal Positive Effects of Transplanted Gene-Modified Blood Stem Cells in Glioblastoma Patients

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have transplanted brain cancer patients’ own gene-modified blood stem cells in order to protect their bone marrow against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Initial results of the ongoing, small clinical trial of three patients with glioblastoma showed that two patients survived longer than predicted had they not been given the transplants; a third patient remains alive with no disease progression nearly three years after treatment.

“We found that patients were able to tolerate the chemotherapy better and without negative side effects after transplantation of the gene-modified stem cells than patients in previous studies who received the same type of chemotherapy without a transplant of gene-modified stem cells,” says Hans-Peter Kiem, M.D., senior and corresponding author of the study, which appears in Science Translational Medicine. For more information, click here to read the full article.