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But the treatment is too risky to help most who are infected with the virus. A man may have been cured of both HIV and leukaemia after receiving a stem-cell transplant from a donor who is genetically resistant to HIV. A man may have been cured of both HIV and leukaemia after receiving a stem-cell transplant from a donor who is genetically resistant to HIV. About two years after the procedure, there is still no sign of the virus, even though the patient no longer takes antiretroviral drugs. Nature News takes a look at the promises and limitations of the...

ATLANTA, Dec. 10  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New data being presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, GA, suggest innovative strategies to improve the success of stem cell and bone marrow transplantation. These studies demonstrate improved outcomes using a new treatment regimen for children with a specific form of leukemia; new ways to increase the number of specialized stem cells harvested from the bone marrow prior to transplantation; efforts to effectively expand stem cell transplantation among patients older than 55; and preclinical research that re-examines the way physicians prepare a patient's immune system to accept...

Associated Press CHICAGO — For all of her 20s, when Edjuana Ross should have been relishing the thrill of early adulthood, she was instead in and out of hospitals, battling a disease that attacked her skin, brain and heart. Now, at 33, she has her life back, thanks to a stem-cell transplant from her own bone marrow, a drastic, experimental treatment that could be promising for patients with severe lupus. Ross' illness is in remission for the first time since her diagnosis shortly after high-school graduation. "I'm just trying to get used to being well, and it's a very weird...

Saving umbilical blood saves lives, says panel Friday, April 15, 2005 By LAURAN NEERGAARD ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Blood saved from newborns' umbilical cords could help treat about 11,700 Americans a year with leukemia and other devastating diseases, yet most is routinely thrown away, a panel of influential scientists said Thursday in calling for a tripling of the nation's supply. Cord blood is rich in stem cells, the building blocks that produce blood - the same stem cells that make up the bone-marrow transplants that help many people survive certain cancers and other diseases. When frozen from cord blood shortly...

A most precious gift Donated cord blood saves lives. Just ask these grateful parents Everyone in the Heacock family was a potential donor. Anthony Dones, above, received his life-saving cord blood from an anonymous donor. Ramona Shih and Michael Blitstein, right, donated son Ty's blood to a public registry. Many expectant moms pore through pregnancy magazines with plenty of questions in mind: Should I quit my stressful job and launch a home-based business? Consume more folic acid? Breast-feed or go with the bottle? Just then a page-long ad throws another choice in their path: Do I bank my baby's...