Continuing to Honor National Sickle Cell Awareness Month

National Sickle Cell Awareness Month may have been in September, but Levine Children’s Hospital recognizes that more time is necessary to focus attention on the need for more research and treatment for the sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is an inherited condition that causes red blood cells to form an abnormal crescent shape. It is the most common genetic blood disease in the United States, affecting as many as 100,000 people, hundreds of which are patients at Levine Children’s Hospital.

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Levine Children’s team of pediatric oncologists and hematologists, blood and marrow transplant doctors, specially trained nurses, child life specialists, social workers, research coordinators and support staff work together to heal sickle cell patients – and offer the most advanced treatment in the region. In 2017, the team worked with families from New York, Louisiana and across the Carolinas.

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Key Updates:

 

Bone Marrow Transplant Advances:

There is no known cure for sickle cell, except for a bone marrow transplant. The team at Levine Children’s Hospital has performed more than 10 transplants in the last two years for sickle cell. New physicians have been brought in specifically to grow and develop the BMT program, including Michael Kent, MD, from Yale.

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Research:

The team is currently researching how to reduce the amount of iron that accumulates in patients’ bodies from all the transfusions they need as part of their treatment. When there is a high amount of iron, it can get into the liver and heart, and be very detrimental to a child. Researchers are now exploring ways to flush the system with new drugs to remove that iron buildup.

 

Gene Therapy:

Doctors are working on correcting the genetic abnormality that leads to sickle cell so children will no longer have the disease. Gene therapy may replace the faulty genes with normal ones. Early results from the research appear to be very promising.