Stem cell therapies are used to treat blood cancer patients. Stem cells are collected and reintroduced to a patient after chemotherapy. But doctors have to face difficulty in collecting enough stem cells from one in ten cancer patients to undergo treatment.
The new drug, Plerixafor has allowed doctors to collect stem cells from patients where there had been difficulties previously. This drug has been licensed recently and is being used at Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. Plerixafor has, so far, had a 100% success rate in allowing doctors at the cancer centre to collect enough cells from patients who fall into this category.
Blood specialist, Dr Kenneth Douglas, explained how the drug worked.
"Basically it blocks a chemical scent that stem cells sniff for that tells them they're in the bone marrow," he said.
"If you block that chemical scent they get confused and agitated and they think they are not in the bone marrow any more and they start wandering into the blood stream looking for the bone marrow."
Doctors collect these stem cells for future use when more of them start wandering into the blood. The centre in Glasgow has now treated 13 people with the drug and every one has been able to proceed with stem cell treatment.
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