City team in transplant cancer find

Researchers in the Capital have developed a new treatment which offers hope to organ transplant patients who go on to develop blood cancer.

A team at the University of Edinburgh has used cell therapy treatment in an attempt to combat the fact that one in 10 people who receive a donated organ develops cancer. The disease proves fatal in 50 per cent of cases.

A study of the team's work, found that patients who received the new treatment remained free from cancer for up to nine years.

Patients who developed blood cancer were treated with white blood cells - known as T cells - which patrol the body and identify and kill virus-infected cells.

The team treated patients who suffered from a type of blood cancer called post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). Up to 10 per cent of patients may develop the cancer in the first few years following transplant.

Lead researcher Dr Tanzina Haque said: "Our results are very encouraging and show that not only are our cells effective in the short-term, but they can also induce a long-term remission in patients."