Biomarkers May Reduce the Need for Biopsies and Offer Personalized Care for Heart...

Biomarkers May Reduce the Need for Biopsies and Offer Personalized Care for
Heart and Lung Transplant Patients

BOSTON, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Data presented at this week's 28th Annual
Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and
Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) suggest the potential of a significant impact of
using biomarkers to reduce the need for biopsies and personalize transplant
patient care. Non-invasive testing using gene-based blood or urine samples
called biomarkers could offer transplant patients personalized care and
medication and may replace the need for costly, invasive biopsy procedures
that can be risky for patients. The meeting will run through Saturday at the
Boston Marriott Copley Place and Hynes Convention Center.
Personalized care is an integrative process of tailoring care to an
individual patient's characteristics or preferences, based on each
individual's unique biology, behavior and environment. At this year's
meeting, researchers are presenting data from gene and protein based blood
testing that may be helpful for reducing immunosuppression. Related data
suggests gene analysis may allow for prediction of future occurrence of
cardiac allograft rejection and its diagnosis.
FEATURED DISCUSSION
Today's plenary lectures provide current perspectives on biomarkers in
transplantation. In Biomarkers: What Are They? How Might They Aid in Care of
Allograft Recipients and Other Patients, Christopher J. O'Donnell, MD, MPH,
from NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/Framingham Heart Study,
Framingham, MA, will present data pertaining to personalized care, its
benefits and future impact on heart and lung patients.
Following, Dr. Christoph Borchers, Director of the Genome Canada
Proteomics Platform at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, will
provide a look at the emerging strategies for plasma protein analysis in New
Tools, Technologies and Results for Probing Proteomic Biomarkers in Plasma of
Transplant Patients.
Finally, Dr. Ralph Weissleder from Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard
will discuss Imaging Biomarkers: New Horizons and Opportunities in
Transplantation, and will share the latest information on imaging biomarkers
and how advanced imaging techniques may soon help in the management of
transplant patients. Three related biomarker abstracts are also slated for
presentation during the session.
"In recent years, there has been an intensive focus on enhancing our
ability to provide the most particular predictive, diagnostic, prognostic and
therapeutic guidance for patients. This intent has been enabled by unbiased
and targeted examination of genotypes and haplotypes that may convey risk or
protection against certain disease processes like immune rejection, as well as
by defining the molecular signatures of a disease process like rejection by
measuring mRNA, proteins or metabolites in the blood or urine. Distillation
of such data, along with clinical features, is intended to improve care,
reduce costs, and make patients lives more enjoyable," said Bruce McManus, MD,
PhD, University of British Columbia, one of the Co-Chairs for the biomarkers
plenary session.
Until recently, heart muscle biopsy was the only method available to rule
out heart transplant rejection and guide treatment with anti-rejection, or
immunosuppressive, therapy. Aside from the invasive and painful nature of the
procedure, a biopsy is only able to detect rejection after damage has already
occurred to the heart tissue. Similar dilemmas exist in the monitoring of
lung transplant recipients.
Alternatively, non-invasive molecular testing of a routine blood sample
allows analysis of gene expression in white blood cells, proteins in the
plasma, and metabolites in blood and urine. The latter biomarkers provide
information on the immune, inflammatory and injury status of the transplanted
heart before tissue damage occurs. The new and original information on
biomarkers and personalized care in lectures given at ISHLT will offer a
deeper knowledge of this innovative direction that is revolutionizing health
care. The discussion will also raise awareness of alternatives to biopsy
procedures that are on the horizon.
About ISHLT
The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) is a
not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the science and
treatment of end-stage heart and lung diseases. Created in 1981, the society
now includes more than 3,000 members from more than 45 countries, representing
a variety of disciplines involved in the management and treatment of end-stage
heart and lung disease.
ISHLT maintains two vital databases. The International Heart and Lung
Transplant Registry is a one-of-a-kind registry that has been collecting data
since 1983 from 223 hospitals from 18 countries. The ISHLT Mechanical
Circulatory Device (MCSD) database has been collecting data since 2002 with
the aim of identifying patient populations who may benefit from MCSD
implantation; generating predictive models for outcomes; and assessing the
mechanical and biological reliability of current and future devices. In Fall
2006, ISHLT released the first international guidelines for heart failure
patient management. For more information, visit http://www.ishlt.org.
Contact: Lauren Mason (210) 857-2521
lmason@masonpr.com

SOURCE International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation

Lauren Mason, +1-210-857-2521, lmason@masonpr.com, for International Society
for Heart and Lung Transplantation