When you buy through link on our land site , we may earn an affiliate committal . Here ’s how it works .

A new treatment may be capable to prevent a common immune - related complication of lifesaving off-white - marrow transplants , a midstage clinical trial run shows .

In patients with blood cancer , high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapyare used to kill the cancerous cells , but these treatments also damage the patients ' intelligent , profligate - forming theme cellphone . To amend this , doctors may perform a type of bone - marrow transplant known as an allogeneichematopoietic stem cell transplant(HSCT ) , in which rip - forge root cellphone from a healthy donor are transplanted into thecancerpatient .

Surgeon monitors the extraction of bone marrow from a patient using a giant syringe in the operating theater

The new therapy is designed to be taken before a bone-marrow transplant, pictured above.

But there ’s a potential snatch : Immune cell in the giver ’s tissue can sometimes attack the recipient ’s tissue , because the cell see it as foreign . A short - terminal figure shape of this condition , called graft - versus - host disease(GVHD ) , affects around40 % of off-white - centre transplantation patients , while different subject area gauge thatbetween 6 % and 80%develop a chronic course of GVHD .

There are ways to trim a patient ’s risk of this response , for exercise , by prescribing immune - bottle up drugs , but thisreduces their ability to oppose pathogen . There are alsotreatments that point a character of immune cellcalled MT cells in the donor tissue . Although these therapies can be effectual , they may number with an increasedrisk of cancer relapse or infection , the scientist behind the new tribulation wrote in a study publish Jan. 4 in the journalBlood .

Related : Zika virus could potentially treat genus Cancer , another early study hints

Medical illustration of three blurred orange dendritic cells and a high res one in the foreground. The cells are shown with transparent-looking “tenticles” or receptors on their surface

CD24Fc inhibits a specific class of antigen-presenting cells, illustrated above, that can distinguish between pathogens and damaged cells in a transplant recipient’s body.

In contrast , the new treatment , called CD24Fc , jump the resistant response at an earlier microscope stage , by inhibit the response of the cells responsible for trip liothyronine cells .

Specifically , the treatment foreclose so - forebode antigen - presenting cells from actuate donor tonne cell that would go on to attack the malignant neoplastic disease patient role ’s prison cell that have beendamaged by irradiation and chemotherapybefore transplantation . These antigen - present cells can separate between the damaged emcee cellphone and pathogens , such as viruses , so CD24Fc only calm the undesirable redness tied to GVHD and not other , helpful immune activity . As such , CD24Fc has also been trialed as a handling for other conditions that are exacerbated by an off - the - rails resistant reply to tissue impairment , such as stark COVID-19 .

" The molecular targets of the intervention are raw and original,“Dr . Ivan Maillard , a prof of medical specialty at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involve in the research , tell Live Science in an electronic mail . CD24Fc kicks in right as the eubstance senses the tissue paper price associate with the transplant procedure , rather than later on , he enunciate .

Spermatozoa, view under a microscope, illustration of the appearance of spermatozoa.

The new trial included 26 patient with blood cancer who received three Zen of CD24Fc in the calendar month before they undergo an allogeneic HSCT . They also received the standard , post - transplant immunosuppressive treatment . Of these patients , only one developed temperate - to - severe GVHD within six calendar month of their surgical operation .

The investigator cross - referenced the test participants ' data to that of 92 patients who undergo the same procedure but without CD24Fc . These patients ' answer werepulled from a database , and 68 of the patient , or 74 % , developed GVHD within six months .

Related:‘Bionic breast ' could bushel sensation for malignant neoplastic disease survivors

A conceptual illustration with a gloved hand injecting a substance into a large tumor

The trial ’s results are " impressive,“Dr . Javier Bolaños Meade , a prof of oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine who was not involved in the research , say Live Science in an electronic mail . However , after a year , the research worker happen no significant divergence in overall survival rate , risk of chronic GVHD , or relapsing rate between the two groups , which was " disappointing , " he said .

CD24Fc caused minimum side effects in most patients , the authors wrote in the paper . However , two of the 26 patient developed a rare - but - serious skin disorder calledStevens - Johnson syndrome , which is ordinarily do by an adverse resistant reaction to sealed medications .

" Whether this uncommon complication was concern to administration of CD24Fc can not be turn out and will demand careful monitoring and valuation in future trials,“Dr . Paul Martin , a professor emeritus of clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle who was not involved in the research , wrote in acommentaryaccompanying the study .

A photo of a patient with their surgical team after surgery. The patient is sat on a hospital bed and the team is gathered around him.

— intelligent tissue may predict lung cancer return well than tumors

— million more people require lung cancer screening , ACS tell

— What happens to malignant neoplastic disease cells after they ’re down by treatment ?

A photo of Nick as he is sat in a hospital bed following surgery. He is wearing a blue hair net and a blue face mask.

The authors play up several limitation of the study , admit that it was small and that the conclusion about CD24Fc ’s potency stem from comparisons to historic data , rather than to a typical control group you ’d expect in a amber - standard trial . This may have skewed the dependableness of the findings for several reason ; for example , the trial patients and historic patients may have differed from each other in cardinal path that were n’t flagged or accounted for .

Nevertheless , Bolaños Meade and Maillard look for that there will be more studies testing this feeler to GVHD bar , which could provide more racy information about its effectiveness .

This clause is for informational purpose only and is not mean to offer aesculapian advice .

illustration of two cancer cells surrounded by stringy tendrils

Ever marvel whysome masses build muscle more easily than othersorwhy lentigo number out in the sunlight ? Send us your questions about how the human eubstance works tocommunity@livescience.comwith the subject line " Health Desk Q , " and you may see your question answer on the website !

An illustration of mitochondria, fuel-producing organelles within cells

a top view of colorful pills spread across a surface

an illustration of vaccine syringes with a blue sky behind them

an ultrasound image of a fetus

An illustration of cancer cells spreading

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

An illustration of Jupiter showing its magnetic field

A satellite image of a large hurricane over the Southeastern United States

Beautiful white cat with blue sapphire eyes on a black background.

The Long March-7A carrier rocket carrying China Sat 3B satellite blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on May 20, 2025 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.