First Successful Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Using Deceased Donor in Blood Cancer Clinical Trial

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For the first time ever, a patient has received an allogeneic stem cell transplant using a deceased donor graft as part of a blood cancer clinical trial at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U).

An allogeneic transplant uses stem cells from a donor—rather than the patient themselves—to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow, offering potential new treatment possibilities for patients with blood cancers and other serious conditions.

Thanks to funding from the Center for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and Ossium Health, this clinical trial explores whether banked deceased donor stem cells can safely and effectively expand transplant options for patients with aggressive blood cancers.

“This study represents an exciting step toward improving transplant access for patients facing aggressive blood cancers like acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” says Sagar Patel, MD, researcher on the Blood and Marrow Transplantation team at Huntsman Cancer Institute, associate professor of medicine at the U, and principal investigator on site for the clinical trial. “By using banked deceased donor grafts, we hope to expand availability of allogeneic transplants more quickly.”

Stem cells are traditionally collected from living donors either by a bone marrow harvest or apheresis, a process which extracts stem cells from the blood. This traditional form of stem cell transplantation, which has been used since the 1970s, relies on donors who are matched through family connections or the global registries of volunteer, unrelated donors. However, finding an available donor can be difficult—for some patients, no viable donor match can be found. For others, even when a viable match is identified, the potential donor may be unable to participate in the donation for a variety of reasons.

In the approach being tested in the trial, stem cells are collected from the vertebral column of deceased individuals who previously consented to organ donation. This clinical trial uses an innovative method that relies on stem cell grafts from a bank of donated frozen stem cells. These pre-banked stem cells could reduce the need for time-consuming donor searches and potentially provide more timely access to transplants for eligible patients.

This investigational approach may streamline how stem cell grafts are obtained, helping to eliminate long waits and uncertainty around donor matching and collection. It offers a potential new option for patients who might otherwise face delays in receiving this treatment.

“We hope we have unlocked a resource that was previously untapped,” Patel adds. “By using the vertebral column’s rich supply of stem cells, we aim to preserve them for future use, improving the chances of finding a compatible match for more patients in need.”

This Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05589896) is actively recruiting patients at Huntsman Cancer Institute and other locations across the United States, with researchers hoping that positive early results could pave the way for expansion to additional patient populations.

The goal of this research is to find out if stem cell grafts from deceased donors can be a safe and effective option. This could help more patients get a stem cell transplant, especially those who don’t have a matching living donor. Another potential benefit is speed: Using deceased donor grafts might shorten the wait time for a transplant. This is important because some patients with high-risk diseases only stay in remission for a short time, and they need to receive a transplant before the disease comes back.

This achievement reflects the strength of Huntsman Cancer Institute’s nationally recognized Blood and Marrow Transplantation program and its robust infrastructure for conducting early-phase clinical trials—an environment uniquely equipped to support this kind of innovative, high-impact research.

The Center for International Bone Marrow Transplant Research is facilitating this study as part of its mission to continually expand donor options and improve access to lifesaving treatments for patients.

“We are not just treating disease; we are working to expand access and improve outcomes for patients in need,” adds Patel. “By removing barriers to stem cell transplants, we can close critical gaps in care, save more lives, and offer hope to those who thought they had none.”