When a person with blood cancer needs a stem cell transplant, it's usually their last chance of survival. We provide two people a day with a transplant but unfortunately not every procedure is successful. The reasons for this can be complex and are not fully understood.
This is why our Research Institute is crucial to our work. Our researchers and scientists are working hard to find ways to improve the number of transplants which are successful. Dr Bronwen Shaw, Anthony Nolan’s chief medical officer, has recently had breakthrough research published in the Lancet Oncology, a leading science journal. The research uncovered the value in conducting additional tissue typing of both stem cell donor and patient, not previously used in the matching process, which could lead to better matches made and more lives saved.
In order to reduce the risks associated with a stem cell transplant clinicians look to match the tissue type of the patient to a donor by looking at five key genes, called alleles, contained in a blood stem cell to achieve a 10/10 match. But even where a 10/10 match is found, not every transplant is successful.
The collaborative research project – led by Dr Bronwen Shaw and Katharina Fleischhauer from San Raffaele University in Milan – has uncovered a hidden role of an additional allele (HLA-DPB1), which sheds new light on the 10/10 matching process as well as transplant outcomes.
Dr Bronwen Shaw said: “These findings provide a practical, clinical strategy for improving long term survival rates following an unrelated-donor blood stem cell transplant. It builds on the gold-standard which already exists for transplants and could be easily incorporated into the current framework transplant centres use when trying to find the best match.”
Anthony Nolan’s chief executive, Henny Braund said: “This research is incredibly exciting. Anthony Nolan created the world’s first stem cell register in 1974. Since that time, we have been committed to saving as many lives as possible through a combination of providing matches through our register and exploring the science behind transplants to improve survival rates. This study provides a genuine breakthrough in a very complex scientific area and will undoubtedly help save many more lives in the future.”
Find out more about our research and how you can help raise funds to support our lifesaving work.