Terra med Alliance News StemEx therapy to be published

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Terra med Alliance News: Gamida Cell announced today thepublication of an article evaluating carlecortemcel-l ,the generic name of what is widely known as "StemEx", as a therapyfor blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. The article, Carlecortemcel-l, an ex vivo expandedumbilical cord blood cell graft for allogeneic transplantation, written by Dr. Ka Wah Chan and Dr. Demetrios Petropoulos , will be published in theNovember 2009 issue of Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. It is nowavailable for online review at ( http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1517/14712590903321447 ). Dr. Chan is the director of the Hematology/Oncology and Blood andMarrow Stem Cell Transplant Programs at the Texas Transplant Institute on thecampus of Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. He is also aprincipal investigator of the ExCell study currently evaluating StemEx. Dr.Petropoulos is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Children's Cancer Hospitalat The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas,where the Phase I study of StemEx was conducted. In the article Dr. Chan and Dr. Petropoulos note, "Earlyresults suggested that carlecortemcel-l infusion ... may be associated with favorable non-relapse mortality rates…. Ex vivo expansion of umbilicalcord blood (UCB) cells appears to be a logical approach to increase theavailability of this source for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation.Laboratory research showed that the critical element of success is to improveHSC proliferation without promoting differentiation. The manufacturing of carlecortemcel-l represents anovel methodology that fulfills this criterion. It is the only product that hasreached the confirmatory stage of clinical development. A single institutionstudy (Phase I study at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) suggested that theinfusion of these expanded cells … may improve transplant outcome inlarge-sized patients." Source GamidaCell AboutLeukemia The term leukemia refers tocancers of the white blood cells, which are also referred to as leukocytes or WBC s. When a child hasleukemia, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells are produced in the bonemarrow. These abnormal white cells crowd the bone marrow and flood thebloodstream, but they cannot perform their proper role of protecting the bodyagainst disease because they are defective. As leukemia progresses, thecancer interferes with the body's production of other types of blood cells,including red blood cells and platelets. This results in anemia (low numbers of red cells) andbleeding problems, in addition to the increased risk of infection caused bywhite cell abnormalities. Terra med Alliance is a non-profitorganization in the battle against leukemia   helps   children living with cancerand their families. Our goal is to make sure children battling cancer know theyare not alone. For more information please visit www.terramedalliance.org.   Email at contact@terramedalliance.org

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