 Dr. Defu Zeng's new therapy may help treat many diseases. |
Over the decades, remarkable progress has been made in the use of bone-marrow transplants (BMT) to fight leukemia. But patients’ recovery following BMT is often complicated by a debilitating side effect known as graft-versus-host disease.
However, a new therapy developed by Defu Zeng, Ph.D., assistant professor of City of Hope’s division of hematology & hematopoietic cell transplantation, holds the promise of eliminating the risk of graftversus-host disease almost entirely.
The therapy involves preparing a patient’s system to receive a BMT by using a protein antibody called “anti-CD3.” It’s the first such therapy that eliminates the need for either chemotherapy or radiation to treat graftversus-host disease. That would make the entire BMT process less toxic for patients, which in turn means fewer risks and a faster recovery.
Dr. Zeng, who is also affiliated with City of Hope’s department of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, says, “This treatment could allow more widespread use of hematopoietic cell transplantation to fight autoimmune diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes.”
Phase 1 clinical trials of the therapy will begin at City of Hope soon.
This is just one more example of how your support of cancer-fighting research
at City of Hope brings hope to people facing other diseases too! Thank you.
