Using stem cell transplants to treat scleroderma – Our
researchers helped make hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation
— the standard treatment for leukemia and other blood cancers —
an established treatment for severe scleroderma. With
transplantation, it may be possible to remove the reactive cells
that trigger the immune system to attack the body. In such a
transplantation, a patient's stem cells are collected, and cells
that react against the patient's own tissue are removed. Next,
the patient undergoes high-dose chemotherapy and takes drugs to
suppress their immune system. The patient then receives an
infusion of the stem cells that were collected before treatment,
with the goal of rebuilding a new, healthier immune system.
Learn more » Making transplants less toxic – Because systemic
sclerosis patients do not always tolerate conventional
transplants well, the Hutchinson Center is developing lower-
intensity transplantation regimens, known as or non-
myeloablative or "mini" stem-cell transplants. This trea