Oldest Patient ‘Cured’ of HIV Still in Remission 5 Years After Transplant for AML
A 68-year-old man with HIV-1 who underwent hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) for acute myelogenous leukemia 5 years ago has been free of HIV infection for 35 months after stopping antiretroviral treatment (ART), according to a case report. The patient received an HCT from a donor with the rare delta-32 mutation, which causes a CCR5 deletion […]
Immunotherapy May Hold Promise for Skin Cancers After Kidney Transplant
The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors given as part of an immunosuppressive regimen for kidney transplant recipients with advanced cutaneous cancers may be effective and safe, depending on the regimen, two small studies suggested. In the first study among 12 kidney transplant recipients with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who were treated with cemiplimab […]
MRD Tied to Allo-Transplant Benefit in NPM1-Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia
SAN DIEGO — Measurable residual disease (MRD) after induction therapy can guide the use of allogeneic transplant in patients with NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first remission, regardless of whether FLT3 internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations are present as well, according to an analysis of two randomized trials. Of more than 700 patients in […]
Fecal Transplants in Kidney Recipients Reduced Resistant Pathogens
In the single-center PREMIX clinical trial, most renal transplant recipients were negative for multidrug-resistant pathogens shortly after receiving fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), with longer times to recurrent infections. Eight of 10 participants who received a least one FMT, and eight of nine participants who received all FMT treatments were multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) negative by day […]
Opportunistic Infections Put a Damper on Belatacept After Lung Transplant
HONOLULU — Lung transplant clinicians had a rocky start using belatacept (Nulojix) for immunosuppression at one large-volume center, though they maintained that the agent could still be used to preserve renal function without affecting the patient’s graft. Out of 388 lung transplant recipients from 2019 to 2022, there were 37 who did not tolerate nephrotoxic […]
Fresh Blood Not Always the Best Blood?
Longer storage of red blood cell (RBC) units was associated with longer transplant survival in kidney transplant patients receiving early transfusions, a retrospective study in France found. Among 3,483 kidney recipients who received RBC transfusions within 14 days posttransplant, each additional day of RBC storage was associated with a non-significant 1% reduction in the risk […]
Intensive Pretransplant Consolidation in Older AML Fails to Improve Results
HOUSTON — Intensive consolidation treatment before allogeneic stem-cell transplant did not improve outcomes in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a retrospective comparison showed. Relapse-free survival (RFS) at 2 years was virtually identical for patients who received intensive consolidation therapy (51%) and those who did not (50%). The intensive-therapy group had a trend toward […]
Transplant Chief Was an Organ Recipient Herself
Though it wasn’t so long ago that Sara Kathryn Smith, MD, was a liver transplant patient herself, last year she became the medical director for pediatric liver transplantation at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. Smith’s unique perspective on patient care has primed her for the role, and for advocating for the importance of organ […]
Fecal Transplant Treatments Could Transmit Monkeypox, FDA Warns
Latest Infectious Disease News WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) Fecal transplant treatments could infect patients with monkeypox, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned. Since May, an outbreak of monkeypox has been spreading in multiple countries, including the United States. Nearly 16,000 people in the United States have already been infected with the […]
Bacteria in donor organs complicate immune response after transplantation
Organ transplant recipients take life-long immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their bodies from mounting an immune response against the donated organ, yet a substantial number of them still reject the organs. A new study by researchers from the University of Chicago shows that transplant recipients also mount an immune response against commensal bacteria in the organ […]