Potential Cure for Children with Sickle Cell Disease Evaluated in Nationwide Research Study

There is a study underway on bone marrow transplants in children that you or your child/niece/nephew/grandchild…etc. might be eligible for.

The NMDP and other organizations are working together on a clinical trial for children (ages 3-16) with SCD. A study like this has never been done before and it aims to determine the effectiveness of unrelated marrow and cord blood transplants in children.

The trial is facilitated by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) and is funded by multiple organizations, including the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Cancer Institute; National Marrow Donor Program; Sickle Cell Disease Clinical Research Network (SCD CRN) and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Potential transplant candidates and their families can visit http://www.marrow.org/ for more information. Referring physicians can visit http://www.bmtctn.net/.

Currently, marrow or blood stem cell transplantation is the only potential cure for severe SCD. Most people with SCD who have undergone a transplant have received stem cells from family members, usually siblings. In this nationwide, multicenter clinical trial, researchers will evaluate the role of unrelated donor transplants in treating severe SCD and the effectiveness of a less-intensive regimen of chemotherapy to prepare patients for transplant.

The study is looking for 45 children with SCD from around the country. There are 20 different trial sites in the US participating.

Please click HERE for more info, and have your doctor contact the study if you are interested in joining. The more participants, the better chance we have for a cure.

Contact Antoine LaFromboise for more info.
612-455-1724
alafromboise@psbpr.com