Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/89851
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SPECIAL SECTION: CANCER +++ +++ STEM CELL THERAPY: What Physicians Should Know T REMENDOUS PROGRESS HAS been made in the field of hema- topoietic stem cell transplants (SCT). Once considered a last resort for leukemia patients after che- motherapy failed or a cancer relapsed, SCT is now prescribed earlier in the treatment regiment for leukemia, lym- phoma, myelomas, nonmalignant blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia, and metabolic disorders. Improvements in the safety and refinement of SCT have also resulted in an increase in the age of candidates. Now a patient in their mid 70s with blood cancer can be considered for both autologous and allogeneic (related and unrelated donor) transplants with a good likelihood of having a beneficial response. In fact, the prognosis for SCT patients of all age levels — pediatric and adult — has significantly improved due to new pre-transplant protocols that reduce toxicity from chemotherapy and radiation, and even newer post- transplant treatments, for example, to reduce graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and other side effects. And there's more, much more, accord- ing to Stanton Gerson, MD, director of UH Seidman Cancer Center and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Marcos JG de Lima, MD, director of UH Seidman's Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplant Program which focuses on non-embryonic stem cells. Dr. Gerson serves on the National Cancer Institutes Board of Scientific Advisors which helps guide the nation's effort in cancer discovery and research. He recently recruited Dr. de Lima from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where Dr. de Lima served as professor of medicine in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and director of the Unrelated Donor Program. A past president of the National Marrow Donor Program Council and advisor for the Center for International Bone Marrow Transplant Research, Dr. de Lima is currently protocol design co-chair of the National Cancer Institute- Sponsored International Workshop on Relapse after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and treasurer of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. "UH has been at the forefront of SCT since its researchers helped pinpoint stem cells as the therapeutic component of bone marrow more than 30 years ago," says Dr. Gerson, who has championed a number of innovative therapies and activities. "Today, our physicians and scientists are active not only in local Stanton Gerson, MD, director, UH Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS