Researchers at the School of Medicine recently developed a new procedure designed to remove kidney-transplant patients’ dependency on immune-suppressing drugs. Transplant recipients must typically continue to take two to three immune system suppressing drugs for the remainder of their lives, following the transplant procedure. While the drugs prevent transplant recipients’ bodies from rejecting the kidney, these drugs include numerous side effects and do not always prevent kidney failure. The new technique differs from standard kidney-transplant procedures by implanting stem cells from the kidney donor’s blood into the transplant recipient’s lymph nodes, spleen and thymus.

By adding the donor’s stems cells to the transplant recipient’s blood, the transplant recipient’s immune system is better able to accept the new organ. The kidney recipient will receive radiation treatment immediately following surgery. Ten days later, the transplant recipient will receive an injection of the organ donor’s stem cells. While the patient is initially put on two of the same immune-suppressing drugs, one of the drugs is withdrawn, allowing the patient’s body to naturally adjust to the new organ. Researchers believe this new method will be more cost-effective by preventing the failure of a transplanted kidney. Whereas the failure of a transplanted kidney costs $80,000 during the year, this new process is expected to cost between $20,000 to $40,000 a year.

—Marianne LeVine