Researchers target sickle-cell cure
By Nathan Seppa
Stem cell transplants have long been a therapy option for children with life-threatening cases of sickle-cell disease, but the procedure itself can be deadly.
Researchers in France now report that transplants have cured 30 consecutive patients over several years, thanks largely to an immunity-suppressing drug that has shown only mixed effectiveness in the past. The study of 69 children and young adults began in 1988.
The results document “an unprecedented cure rate for children” with this ailment, says Robert I. Handin of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.