Recently funded projects - Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation

Haploidentical transplants

Associate Professor John Moore, and his team from the Haematology Department in St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney are investigating ways to improve the success of haploidentical allogeneic stem cell transplants.

Haploidentical transplants are transplants where a sibling or matched unrelated donor does not exist for the patient. Haploidentical donors share a “half” Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) match with their family members and with further research could provide a successful treatment option for the 70% of patients per year who require a stem cell transplant but do not have a sibling match.

The first phase of this project was funded by Arrow in 2015 and saw encouraging results and improvements in survival rates for haploidentical transplant patients. Moving into the second phase of the project the trial seeks to evaluate the safety and efficacy of changes to the drug regime based on data obtained to further improve patient outcomes. The second phase of this project has been funded by the Leukathon.

T regulatory cells regeneration

Kevin Hendrawan — a PhD candidate at St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research (AMR) — was awarded a grant of $14,000 from the Arrow Foundation Special Grants fund to purchase cytokine detection kits. These kits are used in his investigation into how autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) improves clinical outcomes in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the brain and spinal cord.

Kevin studies T regulatory (Treg) cell regeneration by investigating cytokines in a patient’s blood following AHSCT. Cytokines are signaling molecules that are secreted by immune cells to coordinate immune responses. There are cytokines that can initiate the immune system (inflammatory) and others that can suppress it (anti-inflammatory). Cytokines in patient blood are measured using a multiplex cytokine detection kit. This kit allows Kevin to quantify multiple cytokines simultaneously in a small amount of patient blood.

The importance of this work cannot be underestimated. Tregs are a possible candidate for future cell therapy which could reduce the need for high-dose chemotherapy, which is not ideal for patients due to the side-effects associated with its toxicity.

Using genetic biomarkers to improve Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants

Dr Tim Molloy, an outstanding researcher, working with Professor David Ma at the Blood, Stem Cell and Cancer Research Program at the St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, received several grants for an ongoing research project that aims to improve haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).

The project uses the latest technology of next generation sequencing to identify and develop genetic biomarkers with the goal of the better selection of patients for HSCT to improve post-transplant outcomes. HSCT is a standard-of-care treatment for a range of diseases including haematological cancers, leukaemia, myelodysplasia, myeloma and lymphoma as well as autoimmune diseases such as severe systemic sclerosis.

This important contribution to research was only made possible thanks to the generosity of Liverpool Catholic Club and the Orgill Family Foundation.

Identifying the role of acquired myeloid gene mutations in the development of haematological cancers in the general population

The GAMBIT medical research program being undertaken by the Blood Stem Cell and Cancer Research Unit at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, is the largest study of it’s kind.

A population-based study of blood mutations in Australian adults, GAMBIT researches the “Genomics of Aging-acquired Mutations in Blood to Identify Therapeutics for Cancer, Cardiopulmonary, Metabolic and Blood Disorders in Australia”

Arrow has donated nearly $1 million to the GAMBIT project on behalf of key donors. This has resulted in significant strides being made in the past 12 months.