Science / Medicine : Drugs and Bone Transplants

The success rate of bone marrow transplants could be improved if doctors boost the levels of drugs that suppress immune systems, suggests a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found bone marrow transplant patients whose blood concentrations of the immune suppressor cyclosporine were low had a greater risk of suffering a major complication.

“The implications of our study are that cyclosporine concentration should be monitored in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. In patients who have low concentrations, the implication is to increase the dosage,” said Dr. Gary C. Yee, an associate professor of pharmacy at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

About 2,000 patients undergo bone marrow transplants each year in the United States for a variety of diseases, most commonly leukemia. Although patients routinely receive cyclosporine and other immune system suppressants, about 25% to 50% of patients suffer from a complication known as graft-versus-host disease. The complication involves immune system cells from the bone marrow attacking major organs of recipients.