A new study is a potential game-changer in the field of transplantation: The small pilot study, reported last week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, describes a novel regimen that combined old-fashioned cancer treatments with 21st-century stem cell therapy to induce five patients' immune systems to accept donor kidneys as their own despite significant incompatibility, the Los Angeles Times reported.
If the technique proves successful in a larger group of people, future transplant patients may need to take anti-rejection drugs only briefly, and some who rely on them now could discontinue them safely. The recipients of kidneys as well as other organs, including heart, lung, liver and pancreas, might also benefit from access to a wider pool of organs.
