A novel approach to organ transplantation allowed patients to wean off anti-rejection drugs after two years, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial presented Monday. The drugs, called immunosuppressants, are an essential part of any transplant recipient’s life: They help ensure that the immune system doesn’t attack the donated organ as a “foreign” object, leading to rejection.
A kidney and stem cells from his sister Alex Hernandez was 27 when he received a kidney transplant and a dose of stem cells from his sister as one of Akkina’s patients and a trial participant. Hernandez, of Milwaukee, was born with vesicoureteral reflux, a condition that causes urine to flow backward in the urinary tract, leaving his kidneys scarred and ultimately causing permanent kidney damage. In college, his kidneys started to fail, and he had to go on dialysis.
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