By Ian Bennett
Jordan Milner, M.D., a clinical assistant professor in the division of hematology & oncology in the department of pediatrics in the University of Florida College of Medicine, has been awarded a $125,000 grant from the Live Like Bella® Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative to study the use of alpha/beta T-cell and B-cell depletion in allogeneic stem cell transplantation in malignant diseases.
“We are thrilled to bring this technology to the University of Florida and provide our patients with state-of-the-art techniques in hopes to decrease allogeneic transplant related morbidities,” said Milner, a member of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response research program.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation, or alloSCT, is a promising treatment option for pediatric patients with malignant diseases, but it is associated with a risk of transplant-related complications such as graft-versus-host disease. Alpha/beta CD3+ T-cell and CD19+ B-cell depletion is a technique to reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. However, its use in pediatric alloSCT for malignant diseases has not been well studied.
Milner aims to evaluate the use of alpha/beta CD3+ T-cell and CD19+ B-cell depletion in pediatric alloSCT recipients. The Milner lab will submit for approval a single institution, prospective, phase 2 trial to test the hypothesis that pediatric patients who undergo alloSCT using alpha/beta CD3+ T-cell and CD19+ B-cell depletion will have a lower incidence of graft-versus-host disease than matched sibling donor alloSCT patients while maintaining a comparable overall survival. The technique could also lower the risk of graft-versus-host disease, engraftment failure and delayed immune reconstitution, without increasing the risk of infection or post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
All patients will be monitored for myeloid and platelet engraftment, development of graft-versus-host disease, engraftment failure, infections and development of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
