Health
Leukemia patient receives first-ever bone marrow transplant from deceased organ donor
Bone marrow transplants can be life-saving for patients suffering from certain types of cancer, blood disorders and other diseases — but for many patients, finding a match can take months or years.
Each year, roughly 18,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with potentially fatal diseases that could be successfully treated with donated bone marrow.
To help increase the chances of these patients getting life-saving treatment, the bioengineering company Ossium Health has created a program that offers deep-frozen bone marrow from deceased organ donors.
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Earlier this year, after an unsuccessful four-month search for a matching donor, a 68-year-old Michigan woman became the first patient to receive a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated organ donor for blood cancer treatment.
Each year, roughly 18,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with potentially fatal diseases that could be successfully treated with donated bone marrow. (iStock)
The patient, who was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, received the transplant at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan. She is now “rapidly recovering,” according to doctors.
“We were nervous about it because there was no precedence of using a bone marrow from a cadaver,” Muneer Abidi, M.D., a hematologist at Henry Ford Health who led the clinical trials for Ossium’s bone marrow product, told Fox News Digital during a phone conversation.
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“So there was a little bit of apprehension and anxiety, but we were pleasantly surprised and happy when she robustly recovered her [stem cell] count, very similar to the anticipated time duration for a normal, healthy donor.”
Bone marrow barriers
Bone marrow transplant is the final-line treatment for blood cancer patients, according to Kevin Caldwell, the CEO of Ossium Health.
In the current health care system, a blood cancer patient who needs a bone marrow transplant has to find a healthy living volunteer who is a close enough match.
“We were nervous about it because there was no precedence of using a bone marrow from cadaver.”
“Unlike many other organs, which you can just take from one person and transplant into pretty much anyone else who’s a similar size, the bone marrow must be very closely genetically matched,” Caldwell said during a conversation with Fox News Digital.
And the process isn’t easy, he noted.
“The donor has to be ready, willing and able to provide bone marrow for a complete stranger, to have their hip drilled into, and their bone marrow aspirated out or their stem cells mobilized — taking several days off of work and making a meaningful sacrifice to benefit someone they’ve never met,” Caldwell said.
The bioengineering company Ossium Health has created a new program that offers deep-frozen bone marrow from deceased organ donors. (Ossium Health)
There is also the challenge of timing.
“It can take months to find someone who’s healthy enough and willing to donate, and is a genetic match — and those are months that these blood cancer patients often don’t have,” Caldwell said.
About 55% of blood cancer patients successfully receive a transplant, he noted. The other 45% don’t, and most of those won’t survive.
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Another widespread issue is that it’s difficult to find a fully matched donor for minorities, especially African-Americans, according to Abidi.
“The problem worsened during COVID,” he told Fox News Digital.
Meeting the need
To help address these issues, Ossium Health developed a bank of bone marrow that is derived from organ donors.
“We’ve built a network of 27 organ procurement organizations around the United States that manage organ donation, obtain consent and do the recoveries,” Caldwell said.
Ossium has launched a clinical trial — called PRESERVE I — that provides bone marrow to acute leukemia patients who need an allogeneic (genetically similar) transplant. (Ossium Health)
“We’ve trained them on how to recover the bone marrow, and then we built the facility where we process and manufacture the doses for the patients, and we cryopreserve it there on site.”
The goal, Caldwell said, is for bone marrow to be recovered and donated just as other organs — like hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys, corneas and skin — have been for decades.
“Before Ossium, the bone marrow from these donors — the life-saving stem cells that are present in the vertebral bodies of these donors — was not being used,” Caldwell said.
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“It would be discarded despite the fact that these people had consented to organ donation.”
Ossium has launched a clinical trial — called PRESERVE I — that provides bone marrow to acute leukemia patients who need an allogeneic (genetically similar) transplant.
The Michigan woman, the first patient to be enrolled in the trial, received her transplant in May 2024 through Ossium’s HOPE Program.
The end goal, said Ossium’s CEO, is to “dramatically expand” the pool of bone marrow stem cells from deceased organ donors to help fight cancer. (iStock)
“Today, she’s alive and well and on a great recovery trajectory from her blood cancer, because we had a bone marrow unit that could match her and save her life,” Caldwell said.
“This case exemplifies the importance of this new option for patients with urgent needs.”
Benefits of cryopreserved bone marrow
There are several advantages of using bone marrow from deceased donors, Caldwell said — the biggest one being that much more of the organ can be used.
“Our donors don’t need their bone marrow anymore, so we’re able to recover much more of it than we could ever ethically take from a living person who still needs their bone marrow to live,” he said.
On average, they are able to get two to five times as many cells from an organ donor than from a living person, according to Caldwell.
“Our donors don’t need their bone marrow anymore, so we’re able to recover much more of it than we could ever ethically take from a living person.”
“That may mean that we can do multiple transplants from one donor and save multiple lives.”
In other cases, they may be able to provide a larger dose of stem cells, which improves patient outcomes.
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“For the first time ever, the doctor has a choice about what dose he or she wants to give to their patient — similar to when they’re deciding a dosage when prescribing a medication,” Caldwell told Fox News Digital.
The immediate availability is also a major benefit, Abidi added.
“The product is already available and collected, and we know exactly where it is stored,” he said.
Ossium built the facility where they process and manufacture doses of bone marrow for patients, and cryopreserve it there on site.” (Ossium Health)
“When we approach a healthy donor, it can take up to three months or longer from start to finish — but in this case, if we have a donor match identified in the inventory, the product can practically be shipped to us the next day.”
For patients with leukemias and other aggressive diseases, this immediate availability can mean the difference between life and death, Abidi said.
Consent and regulation
The donors on Ossium’s platform are “double-consented,” according to Caldwell.
The first step is for a person to agree to be an organ donor, which typically happens at the DMV.
Approximately 170 million people are registered to be donors, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.
Ossium also follows a second consent process after the donor’s death.
“We also get consent from the family, to confirm that their loved one would like to provide these organs,” Caldwell said. “In the vast majority of times, the family members will honor that decision.”
Approximately 170 million people are registered to be donors, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration. (iStock)
Because the cryopreserved bone marrow is not a drug — and not significantly different from living donor bone marrow — it is not subject to approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Caldwell said.
“The FDA does not regulate bone marrow transplants from living donors — they consider those to be just like organ transplants,” he said.
After finalizing its product and facility, Ossium sent the process and data to the FDA, which confirmed that its oversight was not required.
“But we’re doing the studies anyway, to produce a data set that will empower bone marrow transplant doctors to use this product for their patients,” Caldwell said.
Looking ahead
Since the first transplant for the patient in Michigan, a second one was performed in Utah, and many more are planned, Caldwell said.
“We’re really excited about the outcomes from these first couple of patients,” he said.
Ossium now plans to publish the data to help boost enrollment in the clinical trials.
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The end goal, Caldwell said, is to “dramatically expand” the pool of bone marrow stem cells from deceased organ donors to help fight cancer.
“Leukemia is a treatable cancer if you are able to find a donor in time,” Caldwell said.
“We don’t want anyone to die because of a logistical problem.”
“We don’t want anyone to die because of a logistical problem. We want to achieve a world where virtually everyone who needs a bone marrow transplant can get one.”
While Ossium’s platform is currently focused on treating blood cancers, there are other ways it could benefit patients in the future, Caldwell said.
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“There are many other applications of having a clinical bank of stem cells available, including doing organ transplants without immunosuppression and preventing organ rejection,” he said.
Added Abidi, “As more data becomes available to show the safety in larger number of patients and donors, this certainly is going to be a very nice addition.”
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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