Stem cells from a relative help kids with high-risk leukemia more than chemotherapy

The headline hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of the horrors of chemotherapy–which yields only a poor prognosis anyway in these cases–researchers have found that transplanting stem cells borrowed from a close relative gives kids with acute lymphoblastic leukemia a much better chance of maintaining remission.

Yes, it has to be given during a period of remission and there are other conditions. I’m not up on every research alleyway that’s being explored, but it seems to me this is a new way of thinking about cancer treatment.

This is how doors open–when we start dreaming down different paths. Read more here.