School of Medicine researchers announced recently that a new drug may dramatically increase the nation's supply of platelets, a chronically scarce blood product needed by many cancer patients. A single injection of the drug, a synthetic human hormone called PEG-rHuMGDF, can triple the number of platelets received from each donor, said Lawrence T. Goodnough, M.D., professor of medicine and of pathology. Goodnough, a lead researcher in a multicenter study of the drug, announced the findings at the annual American Association of Blood Banks meeting in Denver. Platelets are blood cells that strengthen blood vessel walls and help seal cuts.
Healthy people have hundreds of thousands of platelets in each cubic millimeter of blood.
But chemotherapy and radiation therapy can quickly destroy the cells, leaving many cancer patients with a dangerously short supply. When platelets are low, microscopic vessels become weak and rupture easily. Patients can have spontaneous nosebleeds, and merely brushing one's teeth can lead to significant bleeding. The transfusions are particularly critical for patients undergoing bone marrow transplants, a procedure that usually involves heavy doses of chemotherapy. It usually takes between four and 10 donations to collect enough platelets for a single bone marrow transplant.