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Newswise The Childrens Cancer Institute at the Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital at Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center and the John Theurer Cancer Center have announced they are participating in a multicenter Phase I/II clinical trial of an investigational gene therapy from bluebird bio, Inc. This trial is specifically for adolescents and adults with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) who cannot be effectively treated using standard therapies such as antibiotics, vitamins, blood transfusions or any pain relieving medications. The study is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of LentiGlobin for sickle cell disease, a gene therapy produced using the patients own modified stem cells to treat their sickle cell disease.

By using the patients own cells to produce functional hemoglobin that can prevent sickling of their red blood cells, LentiGlobin for SCD offers patients the opportunity to treat their disease without the need to have a matched bone marrow donor. The John Theurer Cancer Center is one of a limited number of centers internationally, and the Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital is the only pediatric site in New Jersey, where the study, which is enrolling patients age 12-50, is taking place.

Sickle cell affects 100,000 Americans. It affects one in every 365 African American births and one in every 16,000 Hispanic American births, said Alfred P. Gillio, M.D., director, Childrens Cancer Institute and section chief, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program, Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. This trial is for patients who have severe sickle cell disease and seek advanced treatment options but do not have a well-matched stem cell donor. Only 15% of sickle cell patients have a matched sibling donor and only 25 percent of patients have a matched unrelated volunteer donor.

Sickle cell affects every organ in a patients body, said Stacey Rifkin-Zenenberg, D.O., FAAP, pediatric hematologist/oncologist, Childrens Cancer Institute, and section chief, Pain and Palliative Care, Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. This disease really has a tremendous effect not only on the patient, but also the family.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease caused by a mutation in the beta-globin gene, resulting in abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped red blood cells. Symptoms and complications of the disease include anemia, infections, stroke, poor quality of life and early death. To date, the only cure for sickle cell disease is receiving a stem cell transplant from a matched donor, but this is not a therapeutic option for many patients. Supportive care including hydroxyurea and blood transfusions can ameliorate symptoms of the disease. To date, without a marrow donor, there has been no alternate curative therapy. Life expectancy of a person with sickle cell disease is 20 to 40 years of age. In some cases, patients using disease modifying medications can live to 50 or 60.

This therapy may be a major advance for sickle cell patients and so far, the results look very promising, said Scott D. Rowley, M.D., FACP, hematologist, medical director, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and medical director, BMT Cell Lab, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center, who is enrolling adult patients. This investigational treatment, which is a one-time therapy, may be an option for our patients who have no other treatment options.

The results from early clinical studies are encouraging, said Dr. Gillio. With this treatment, the patient is their own donor and we are modifying their own cells to add copies of a functional beta globin gene.

In the current study:

About Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center

Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center, a 781-bed nonprofit teaching and research hospital located in Bergen County, NJ, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state. Founded in 1888 as the countys first hospital, it is now part of the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care, which is comprised of 34,100 team members and more than 6,500 physicians. Hackensack University Medical Center is ranked #2 in New Jersey and #59 in the country in U.S. News & World Reports 2019-20 Best Hospital rankings and is ranked high-performing in the U.S. in colon cancer surgery,lung cancersurgery,COPD, heart failure, heart bypass surgery, aortic valve surgery,abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, knee replacement and hip replacement. Out of 4,500 hospitals evaluated, Hackensack is one of only 57 that received a top rating in all nine procedures and conditions. Hackensack University Medical Center is one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades Americas 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more years in a row. Beckers Hospital Review recognized Hackensack University Medical Center as one of the 100 Great Hospitals in America 2018. The medical center is one of the top 25 green hospitals in the country according to Practice Greenhealth, and received 26 Gold Seals of Approval by The Joint Commission more than any other hospital in the country. It was the first hospital in New Jersey and second in the nation to become a Magnet recognized hospital for nursing excellence; receiving its sixth consecutive designation in 2019. Hackensack University Medical Center has created an entire campus of award-winning care, including: John Theurer Cancer Center, a consortium member of the NCI-designated Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; the Heart & Vascular Hospital; and the Sarkis and Siran Gabrellian Womens and Childrens Pavilion, which houses the Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital and Donna A. Sanzari Womens Hospital, which was designed with The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center and listed on the Green Guides list of Top 10 Green Hospitals in the U.S. Hackensack University Medical Center is the Hometown Hospital of the New York Giants and the New York Red Bulls and is Official Medical Services Provider to THE NORTHERN TRUST PGA Golf Tournament. It remains committed to its community through fundraising and community events especially the Tackle Kids Cancer Campaign providing much needed research at the Childrens Cancer Institute housed at the Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital. To learn more, visit http://www.HackensackUMC.org.

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Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital and John Theurer Cancer Center Launch Clinical Trial Evaluating Gene Therapy for Severe Sickle Cell Disease in...