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Patients at risk of life-threatening infections following chemotherapy could benefit from a new cell-based treatment developed from University of Queensland research.

In the weeks following chemotherapy, a patient’s immune system is depleted as a result of neutropenia – a decrease in the number of circulating white blood cells or neutrophils – which leaves the patient vulnerable to potentially fatal infection.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­’s ’s (AIBN) and his team have developed a method of producing a therapeutic dose of white blood cells in a typical transfusion bag which can be administered to patients immediately after chemotherapy.

Professor Nielsen said chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is a life-threatening risk to cancer patients.

“It exposes them to infection and fever, which can lead to delays in treatment and reductions in chemo dose intensity,” he said.

“The treatment most commonly used for neutropenia involves an injection of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) which stimulates the patient’s own stem cells to expand and differentiate into neutrophils.

“G-CSF’s effectiveness relies on the number of stem cells in the patient’s bone marrow, which is significantly reduced after chemotherapy, and it takes time for the stem cells to recover and mature into white blood cells.

“Our method instead avoids that ‘at risk’ period following treatment by extracting and separating stem cells from umbilical cord blood to produce a transfusion-ready therapeutic dose of white blood cells which can be administered to patients immediately after chemotherapy,” Professor Nielsen said.

The technology is based on research by Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­’s Professor Nielsen and Dr Emma Palfreyman, and Dr Nick Timmins, formerly of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ and now based at CCRM - a Canadian leader in developing and commercialising regenerative medicine technologies and cell and gene therapies.

It will now progress towards the clinic following a licensing deal with , negotiated by Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ commercialisation company .

UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said CCRM was the ideal partner to take the neutrophil technology towards the market.

“CCRM has demonstrated experience in fundamental stem cell science and the commercialisation of regenerative medicine and we are delighted that they will take Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­’s research towards the clinic so that it can benefit patients,” Dr Moss said.

CCRM President and CEO, Dr Michael May, said the centre is excited about the agreement with Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ and UniQuest.

“By combining the technology licensed from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ with CCRM’s expertise and capabilities in the commercialisation of stem cell therapies, we believe we can provide a solution to this unmet clinical need and make a real difference to chemotherapy patients,” Dr May said.

The neutrophil research at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has been supported since 2003 by and its forerunner, the Australian Stem Cell Centre, as well as the and the .

Media: UniQuest - Nicole Cowan, n.cowan@uniquest.com.au, +614 09 767 199; AIBN, Darius Koreis – d.koreis@uq.edu.au, +617 3346 3962; CCRM - Stacey Johnson, stacey.johnson@ccrm.ca, +1 647 309 1830.