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UI Health provides hope for a cure to patients with sickle cell disease through stem cell transplantation without the need for chemotherapy. The procedure relies on transplanted cells from a healthy, tissue-matched, full sibling. Patients receive immunosuppressive drugs just before the transplant, along with a very low dose of total body irradiation, a treatment much less harsh and with fewer potentially serious side effects than chemotherapy. Next, the sibling donor cells are transfused into the patient. Stem cells from the donor produce healthy new blood cells in the patient, eventually in sufficient quantity to eliminate symptoms of sickle. In many cases, sickle cells can no longer be detected This procedure was devel
Alvin, my daughter underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure to treat her sickel cell condition. The procedure she went through involved chemotherapy and the insertion of a chemo port in the chest through which the chemo medicine was administered. On the eleventh day, the marrow was taken from my older daughter, and the refined marrow was administered to Alvin. And now my daughter is sickle cell free
In 2011, Iesha Thomas, a Chicagoan, became the first patient in the Midwest to undergo a successful stem cell transplant for sickle cell disease at UI Health. This procedure, developed at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and validated at UI Health, involved transplanted cells from a healthy, tissue-matched, full sibling. Patients received immunosuppressive drugs and a very low dose of total body irradiation before the transplant, which is less harsh and has fewer potentially serious side effects than chemotherapy. The sibling donor cells were then transfused into the patient, leading to the production of healthy new blood cells, eventually curing the disease. Six months after her transplant, Iesha Thomas was cured of sickle cell disease, and in the following year, brothers Julius and Desmond Means were also cured at UI Health following a stem cell transplant
In 2013, brothers Julius and Desmond Means were cured of sickle cell disease at UI Health following a stem cell transplantation from their older brother, Clifford. For the sibling to be a compatible donor, at least eight of the 10 known human leukocyte antigen (HLA) must be identical between the donor and recipient. Julius and Desmond both match 10/10 HLA genes with Clifford. The procedure, developed at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and validated at UI Health, involved transplanted cells from a healthy, tissue-matched, full sibling. Patients received immunosuppressive drugs just before the transplant, along with a very low dose of total body irradiation, a treatment much less harsh and with fewer potentially serious side effects than chemotherapy. Stem cells from the donor produced healthy new blood cells in the patient, eventually in sufficient quantity to eliminate symptoms of sickle cell disease. In many cases, sickle cells can no longer be detected.