Who can enter
Children at the at the Princess Máxima Center undergoing their first allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
Goal
The goal of this research is to study how the development of new blood cells progresses during the first year after a stem cell transplantation.
Background
Hematopoietic stem cells are cells that produce blood. In a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the patient’s stem cells are replaced by the stem cells of a healthy donor. Stem cell transplantation is a life-saving treatment for various diseases.
After the transplantation, the patient’s blood is produced by the donor’s stem cells. Sometimes, donor stem cells can have small changes in their DNA. These changes can cause some stem cells to grow faster than others. This is called clonal hematopoiesis.
Healthy older adults with clonal hematopoiesis have a higher risk of blood diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research has shown that clonal hematopoiesis occurs more often in people who had a stem cell transplant in the past. We do not yet fully understand why this happens and what the consequences are.
In this study, we want to thoroughly investigate the development of blood production directly after the stem cell transplantation and examine which factors cause a stem cell to grow faster or slower.