Granulocyte Transfusions after Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use of Granulocyte Transfusions after Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant for Leukaemia: A prospective, non-randomised, single-centre study to evaluate safety and immune reconstitution
IRAS ID
295998
Contact name
Robert Wynn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Although most children with leukaemia are cured using drugs (chemotherapy) alone, for some children additional treatments are needed. Stem cell transplant can cure children where chemotherapy and other drugs have failed. In this case, the immune cells of the donor attack the leukaemia cells of the patient. Cord blood collected from the placenta of unrelated babies is often used as a donor cell source, and appears to be work well at controlling leukaemia and less likely to cause complications such as when the immune cells also mistakenly attack healthy tissues (called graft versus host disease, GVHD).
We have noticed that during cord blood transplant, the donor immune system appears to recover more quickly and not be associated with GVHD, when a type of blood transfusion containing white cells are also given to the patient. The infused white cells appear to stimulate the donor immune cells to expand much more than usually seen.
During this research we will study this immune cell expansion during cord blood transplant in children with difficult-to-cure leukaemia who also receive a transfusion of white cells, termed granulocytes. We will assess the safety of the effects of the white cell transfusions and the immune cell expansion on the child, and look at the outcomes on the patient's leukaemia, and whether there is GVHD or not.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
21/WA/0143
Date of REC Opinion
10 May 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion