In article <2qn1j7$67j at eagle.natinst.com> klopfer at natinst.com (Mike Klopfer) writes:
>Along this line I've heard of a treatment (maybe it was called Total
>Lymphoid Irradiation) using radiation to destroy a persons immune
>system. Then the immune system can be restarted from saved stem cells
>possibly eliminating rejection of transplanted organs. I was wondering
>if something like this is being tried or used? If this is not successfull I
>would also be interested in finding out what is the best guess as to why not.
Called bone marrow transplant, a very effective treatment for
leukemia. Being experimented with for other kinds of cancer.
Heterologous and autologous BMT is a fairly common procedure. For
heterologous BMT there's a National Bone Marrow Registry of
potential HLA and DR types for matching with patients. The problem
is that there is not a sufficient number of donors registered to be
sure of matching a patient. The problem is especially acute within
ethnic groups. Call 1-800-MARROW-2 for information about being
tested and registered. Takes only a couple of cc's.
There's some exciting experimental work being done with bone marrow
transplant in conjunction with solid organ transplantation. There
are actually immune cell chimeras with liver transplants walking
around who've been totally weaned off cyclosporin. Look up recent
papers by Starzl, et.al.
Mike Holloway
mhollowa at epo.som.sunysb.edu
