CLEVELAND – The federal government has recently selected the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) to join an elite group of hospitals to rapidly evaluate and treat potential victims of radiological and chemical attacks. The Ireland Cancer Center is the only adult site in Ohio to be part of the Radiation Injury Treatment Network (RITN), created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Ireland Cancer Center, selected for its expertise in stem cell transplantation and immune deficiencies, will be one of 52 centers across the country to respond to victims exposed to radiation or other bone marrow injuries. RITN, a joint project of the National Marrow Donor Program and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, was formed so that when disasters strike these centers can triage and treat patients. Examples include chemical (mustard gas), nuclear devices or dirty bombs.
In the event of radiation or chemical exposure, victims would be decontaminated before they go to RITN centers. After being transferred to UHCMC, a medical team of hematologists, radiologists and nurses would initially evaluate the injury. Treatment plans, including antibiotics, blood transfusions or, in rare cases, bone marrow transplantation, would then be determined for patients, following national guidelines developed by RITN. UHCMC staff has been fully trained by RITN.
“The Ireland Cancer Center has been involved in stem cell and bone marrow transplantation for more than 30 years and has done seminal work to advance this field,” says Hillard Lazarus, MD, Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, as well as Medical Director of UHCMC’s RITN program. “We already have plans in place to deal with such disasters and are prepared to share our expertise with the public if called upon.”
Dr. Lazarus and his team are heavily involved in research related to blood stem cell transplantation. They were pioneers in the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat leukemia and developed mesenchymal stem cells to treat blood cancers. His team is currently developing Multi Potential Adult Progenitor Cells (MAPC), a close cousin to mesenchymal stem cells, and using them to improve engraftment in transplant patients and prevent Graft versus Host Disease (GVHD).