Acute GVHD prediction could aid liver cell transplants

Posted on 2008-07-21 20:00:00 in Artificial & Replacement Organs & Tissues | Cancer |

A new study claims to have reached a landmark in predicting how a patient will react to allografts as a treatment for liver cancer.

Cell transplants from one individual to another carry with them the risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) - a condition that is difficult to foresee as there are no definitive markers.

However, academics at the University of Florida have developed a preliminary "molecular structure" that could highlight whether a patient may be susceptible to developing the disease.

Dr Vijay Reddy, lead author of the study, said: "Our study enrolled four acute GVHD patients and four acute GVHD-free patients and noted significant differences in the expression of 1,658 genes between the control and acute GVHD patients."

Other measures taken to minimize the risk of GVHD include using a closely matched donor or a cord blood unit, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.ADNFCR-1506-ID-18695933-ADNFCR

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