Northwestern Memorial Transplant Program Initiates New Study

Study seeks to wean certain kidney transplant recipients off anti-rejection
drugs following surgery

CHICAGO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After a transplant surgery,
anti-rejection drugs for the organ recipient are a must, but with prolonged
use can have serious side effects, including infections, heart disease and
cancer. A team led by Joshua Miller, MD, a researcher at Northwestern
University's Feinberg School of Medicine, is working with Northwestern
Memorial Hospital's department of organ transplantation to enroll qualifying
subjects in a new research study that seeks to transplant stem cells from a
kidney donor's bone marrow into the recipient, with the hope of gradually
eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. If research proves successful,
it would mean a dramatic change in the post-transplant quality of life for the
transplant recipient.

Northwestern is the only center in Chicago and one of four centers nationally
looking at this topic. The Feinberg School of Medicine has received a
four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to enroll
20 patients in the study, which is called "Donor Stem Cells, Campath, T/B Cell
Regulation In HLA-Identical Renal Transplants."

The first subjects to participate in the study underwent kidney transplant
surgery on Thursday, Jan. 10. Sharon Flood of Pingree Grove, Ill. donated her
kidney to her brother Steven Yelk of Gurnee, Ill., who suffers from polycystic
kidney disease (PKD), which causes cysts filled with fluid to form throughout
the kidneys. Eventually, these cysts take over the healthy kidney tissue and
the kidneys fail. "Our family is very close and there are seven brothers and
sisters. I was thrilled to learn that I was a match and would be able to help
Steven," Sharon commented before the surgery.

Joseph Leventhal, MD, PhD, transplant surgeon, associate professor of surgery
and director of the Living Donor Renal Transplant Program at Northwestern
University's Feinberg School of Medicine, preformed the kidney donor's surgery
and Michael Abecassis, MD, MBA, chief of the division of transplantation, and
dean of clinical affairs for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of
Medicine, performed the recipient's surgery.

"The surgery was successful, everything went according to plan and the new
kidney is functioning well," said Dr. Abecassis. From here, the kidney
recipient will begin the experimental portion of the study.

This study is open to HLA-identical sibling kidney donor and recipient pairs.
HLA, or human leukocyte antigen, is one of a group of proteins found on the
surface of white blood cells and other cells that play an important part in
the body's immune response to foreign substances. These antigens vary from
person to person, and an HLA compatibility test is performed before organ
transplantation to find out if tissues match between a donor and a recipient.

The study is limited to only HLA-identical sibling pairs because these
siblings genetically have a more similar set of immunologic markers than a
non-related HLA-identical pair. Because this population has the closest
genetic relationship, they have the best chance for success with the study.
Overall, HLA-identical siblings have very low rejection rates for kidney
transplants but until now have still required immunosuppressive drugs to be
taken for life.

How does it work?

Stem cells are formed at the marrow and are common blood cells from which
other specialized blood cells, like immune cells, develop. These stem cells
are considered important to help prevent rejection of the kidney transplant.
By transplanting these cells from the kidney donor into the recipient, the
study seeks to prove that the stem cells will mature in the recipient's body
and will allow his immune system to accept the new organ as his own.

For the kidney donor, the laparoscopic surgery occurs in the standard manner.
After the kidney is removed, bone marrow is drawn from the donor's hip bone.
About three months following the surgery, the donor undergoes two procedures
called leukopheresis, happening one day apart, where stem cells mobilized from
the marrow are collected so that they can be given to the kidney recipient to
help his body acclimate to the transplant.

Approximately one month before the transplant surgery, the recipient undergoes
leukopheresis to draw white blood cells which are stored in a lab for later
testing. After transplant surgery, the recipient receives four separate inf

The stem cells are infused into the transplant recipient via an IV in a
procedure that lasts about 15 minutes. The first infusion is five days after
surgery, the next is about three months after surgery, then six months and
finally nine months after the transplant. During this time the recipient is
treated with Campath-1H, a potent antibody used extensively at Northwestern to
prevent rejection, in addition to the other standard anti-rejection
medications. About a year after the surgery, the subject is weaned off of one
anti-rejection drug, then another. There are also ongoing tests to ensure the
recipient is tolerating the kidney.

"This is an exciting area of research which holds a great deal of promise if
successful," says Dr. Abecassis. "We are excited to be the only center in the
region offering this to qualifying patients."

About Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is one of the country's premier academic
medical centers and is the primary teaching hospital of the Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine. Northwestern Memorial and its
Prentice Women's Hospital and Stone Institute of Psychiatry have 897 beds
along with 1,424 affiliated physicians and 6,464 employees. Northwestern
Memorial is recognized for providing state-of-the-art patient care and
exemplary clinical and surgical advancements in the areas of cardiothoracic
and vascular care, gastroenterology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology,
organ and bone marrow transplantation, and women's health.

Northwestern Memorial received the prestigious 2005 National Quality Health
Care Award and is listed in eight specialties in U.S. News & World Report's
2007 rankings for "America's Best Hospitals." For seven years running,
Northwestern Memorial has been rated among the nation's "100 Best Companies
for Working Mothers" by Working Mother magazine and has been chosen by
Chicagoans for more than a decade as their "most preferred hospital" according
to the National Research Corporation's annual survey. Northwestern Memorial
carries the Magnet status designation in nursing, the highest recognition
possible for patient care and nursing excellence.

SOURCE Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Amy Dobrozsi of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, +1-312-926-5900,
adobrozs@nmh.org