The recipients of the bone marrow did not undergo any radiation treatment, nor was the bone marrow modified in any way. To date, survival for both groups is at 69 percent, reports Si Pham, M.D., who led the UPMC study. GVHD is a complication that involves donor immune cells attacking recipient tissues. The cells specifically target, and essentially clog, the lung's bronchiole tissue. In the patients who did not receive bone marrow, the incidence of OB was 30.8 percent, compared to 4.7 percent in those patients who received the infusions.
Obliterative bronchiolitis is often difficult to treat and can have deadly consequences.
They have already determined that levels of chimerism can be significantly increased with donor bone marrow infusions, having performed the procedure in more than 225 patients who underwent liver, kidney, pancreas, intestine, lung or heart transplants.