Bone marrow transplants may soon be a whole lot easier on the body thanks to a revolutionary treatment being investigated in a PhD project at Murdoch University.

“Current treatments of bone marrow cancer are almost as harmful as the disease itself, with high doses of chemoradiotherapy used to kill bone marrow and suppress the immune system before transplantation,” said Murdoch PhD student Danielle Meyrick.

This general chemical bombardment can also kill liver and kidney cells, may cause severe discomfort or even be fatal to sufferers.

Quadramet™, the new treatment under trial at Murdoch University and Royal Brisbane Hospital, may put an end to these dangerous side-effects.

Ms Meyrick said the drug Quadramet™ was regularly used to relieve the pain of bone cancer, but was recently found to effectively destroy malignant bone marrow cells when taken in higher doses.

In preliminary trials Quadramet™ has been shown to act specifically on bone cells, leaving the rest of the body unharmed.

Ms Meyrick is investigating exactly how the interaction between the drug Quadramet™ and bone marrow occurs at a molecular level while clinical trials at Royal Brisbane Hospital are underway to assess the full extent of Quadramet™’s toxicity.

“We need to find out how where the drug goes and how it is bonding with the bone cells,” she said.

“After testing the interaction of the drug with synthesized bone at Murdoch University, I will test with radioactive markers at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and carry out trials on bone cells at Royal Brisbane Hospital.”

The research is supported by ANSTO and the Austrailan Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE).