Advances in research to prevent complications in bone marrow transplants

  • endotelio

The bone marrow transplant is necessary for many patients with aggressive blood cancers like leukaemia. This kind of transplant have risks and often serious complications. One of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC) research line is focused on how to protect the endothelium.

Some drugs and various actions inherent to the transplant damage the endothelium and this damage may be behind early complications observed after the transplant. The Barcelona Endothelium Team (BET) of our institute works in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in endothelial damage and finding drugs that protect the endothelium and consequently, prevent these complications.

“What is going on between defibrotide and endothelial cells? Snapshots reveal the hot spots of their romance”.

This is the encouraging title of the paper published recently in the journal Blood by the IJC Barcelona Endothelium Team (BET). Defibrotide (DF) has been given authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)to treat Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome, a frequent complication after the transplant of hematopoietic cells. DF has a recognised role as an endothelial protector although the precise mechanism through which it does this is not fully known. The aim of the present study is to investigate the interaction of DF with endothelial cells. The results contribute to a better understanding of the precise mechanisms by which DF acts as a therapeutic and potentially preventive agent on the endothelial damage underlying different pathological situations.

+ info HERE (in Spanish)

III Scientific Conference of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute

  • III Jornada científica IJC

Last Friday in the Sant Pau Hospital of Barcelona we celebrate the III Scientific Conference of the Institute for Leukaemia Research Josep Carreras. Researchers and clinicians of the three campus (Campus Clínic-UB Campus ICO-Germans Trias i i Pujol Campus Sant Pau) participated in this journey.

In this day of collaboration and sharing over 70 scientists participated. We are very happy with the results.Together, we will continue UNSTOPPABLE investigating against leukaemia and other haematological malignancies!

The projects presented were:

– “Cytomics: A Translational Approach”. Jordi Petriz (Campus ICO-GTIP).

– “The study of chromatin regulation as nexus between basic and translational research“. Marcus Buschbeck (Campus ICO-GTIP).

– “Quality of Life in patients transplanted with hematopoietic progenitors”. Anna Barata (Campus Sant Pau).

– “Modeling coenzyme Q10 deficiency using iPSC”. Damià Romero (Campus Clinic).

– “New diagnostic platform in AML”. Josep F. Nomdedeu (Campus Sant Pau).

– “The Complete Mutome and Clonal Architecture of del(5q)”. Vera Ademà (Campus ICO-GTIP).

– “Development of nanoconjugates for cell-targeted therapy in hematological malignancies”. Isolda Casanova/Victor Pallarés (Campus Sant Pau).

– “Activated KRASG12V cooperates with MLL-AF4 to promote extramedullary engraftment and migration of cord blood CD34+ HSPCs but is not sufficient to initiate leukemia”. Cristina Prieto (Campus Clinic)

– “Discovering cell-cell communication between natural killer cells and multiple myeloma cells to unravel both the beneficial and adverse effects of this phenomenon”. Beatriz Martin (Álvaro Urbano’s Lab. Campus Clinic)

– “Prognostic impact of gene rearrangements and of miRNAs expression in HIV-related lymphomas”. Maria Joao Baptista (Campus ICO-GTIP)

– “The role of FcGRIIB in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: implications for clonal control and expansion”. Rosa Bosch (Campus Sant Pau)

– “Evidence of defibrotide internalization and its endothelial protective effect in hepatic endothelial in vitro model”. Marta Palomo (Campus Clinic)

+ info:www.carrerasresearch.org

21st Josep Carreras Gala in Germany: more resources to fight against leukaemia

  • Gala Alemanya 2015

Barcelona, 18th December 2015. The 21st Josep Carreras Gala, televised on the SAT.1 Gold channel, was held in Berlin on 17th December and this year it succeeded in raising 3.189.029 euros. Performing at the Gala were David Garrett, Al Bano & Romina Power and Die Prinzen, amongst other artists.

Over the last twenty years these televised Christmas Galas have managed to raise over 200 million euros, a sum that has been entirely devoted to scientific research and to the establishment and improvement of facilities aimed at improving patients’ quality of life. More than 1,000 have been financed.

+ info at: https://www.carreras-stiftung.de/

The Stem Cell, Mesenchymal Cancer and Development Group has published a new scientific article on infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in cells t (4; 11) / MLL-AF4 + B in the prestigious journal Blood

This particular article, under the direction of Dr. Sanjuan-Pla, focuses on what is known about this form of leukaemia, some of the particular characteristics of studying a disease that appears in such young patients, and goes on to mention what the group hopes will be the result of the application of new technologies in this field of research. 

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Día Mundial del Linfoma – 2015

Cada año, unas 7.000 personas son diagnosticadas de linfoma en España. Casi la mitad de los casos de tumores de la sangre corresponden al linfoma no Hodgkin (LNH) y menos del 50% son curables.

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More than 300 unstoppable patients against leukaemia

As part of the Unstoppable against Leukaemia campaign, which formed part of 2015 Leukaemia Week (21-28 June), on Sunday 21 June more than 300 patients, who either have or have recovered from leukaemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma or another malignant blood disease, went out onto the streets to raise people’s awareness about these diseases and to ask for their help in order to continue our research into them.

This event was held throughout 16 Autonomous Communities and 43 Spanish provinces. Joining the 300 patients and former patients were the families of 58 children and adolescents with these diseases, leukaemia being the most frequent cancer suffered by children. In Barcelona specifically, the families of 50 such patients and former patients met together in the Born district of the city.

This was the fourth year running that the campaign has been held and with every year that passes the event grows in importance. Last year 300 patients throughout the whole of Spain took part raising more than €50,000 through SMS messages of support. These funds were used to invest in a cell separator for the laboratories at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute. 

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