Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have discovered that the cancer drug bortezomib - typically used to treat cancer of the plasma cells - is an effective therapy that can be used in transplant patients.

Steve Woodle and colleagues discovered that the drug was effective in treating and reversing rejection episodes that did not respond to traditional therapies. Results of their study are published in the December 27, 2008, edition of the journal Transplantation.

The drug targets the antibody-producing plasma cells that can cause organ rejection. The researchers administered the drug to six kidney transplant recipients with treatment-resistant organ rejection, evaluating and recording their responses to the treatment.

In each case, treatment with the drug provided prompt rejection reversal, prolonged reductions in antibody levels and improved organ function with suppression of recurrent rejection for at least five months.

Woodle says although this data is promising, it is difficult to overestimate the implications of this drug.

"We have an immunosuppressive agent that for the first time can target antibody-producing plasma cells with an efficacy similar to drugs that target T cells," he says. "This has significant implications for transplantation and auto immune disease."

The UC researchers are currently conducting four industry-supported clinical trials to expand these findings.