What is an exchange transfusion used to treat?
An exchange transfusion is typically used to treat life-threatening blood abnormalities, such as blood cell disorders, in both children and adults. Learn why exchange transfusions are done, how the transfusions are administered, and what to expect from an exchange transfusion. Why are exchange transfusions done?
What is therapeutic plasma exchange?
Therapeutic plasma exchange is used as a trial method for the treatment of cancer patients. Therapeutic plasma exchange uses in vitro technology to remove pathogenic factors in the plasma, returning the replacement and remaining components to the patient to facilitate cure.
What is targeted cancer therapy?
Targeted therapy is another branch of cancer therapy aiming at targeting a specific site, such as tumour vasculature or intracellular organelles, leaving the surroundings unaffected. This enormously increases the specificity of the treatment, reducing its drawbacks [6].
Are extracellular vesicles a new target for cancer treatment?
The small vesicular culprits: the investigation of extracellular vesicles as new targets for cancer treatment. Clin Transl Med. 2017;6(1):45. doi: 10.1186/s40169-017-0176-z. [PMC free article][PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar] 65. Thakur BK, Zhang H, Becker A, et al. Double-stranded DNA in exosomes: a novel biomarker in cancer detection.
Why are exchange transfusions done?
An exchange transfusion can help reduce or stop the symptoms of conditions like jaundice or blood disorders like sickle cell anemia.
Why do doctors recommend an exchange transfusion?
Your doctor may also recommend an exchange transfusion to treat other issues related to your blood chemistry, or to fight against toxic symptoms caused by drugs or poisons.
What are the risks of an exchange transfusion?
As with any blood transfusion, there are some possible risks and side effects, including:
What can I expect after a blood transfusion?
After your transfusion is completed, your doctor will check your blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature.
How does a blood transfusion work?
During the procedure, your blood will be removed and replaced with blood or plasma from a donor. Here’s how the procedure works: Your doctor places two small tubes called catheters into a vein in your arm. Your blood is withdrawn in cycles.
How long does it take for blood to be withdrawn from a catheter?
Your blood is withdrawn in cycles. Each cycle takes a few minutes , and the catheters take in about 5–20 milliliters during each cycle. As blood is removed during each cycle, a fresh cycle of blood or plasma from a donor is pumped into your body through another catheter.
Is chelation a side effect of blood transfusion?
Lung damage, known as transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), is another rare possible side effect of a blood transfusion. TRALI usually happens within the first 6 hours of the transfusion if it does occur.
What is targeted cancer treatment?
Targeted therapy is another branch of cancer therapy aiming at targeting a specific site, such as tumour vasculature or intracellular organelles, leaving the surroundings unaffected. This enormously increases the specificity of the treatment, reducing its drawbacks [6].
How are exosomes used in cancer?
Exosomes could also be exploited as natural, biocompatible and low immunogenic nanocarriers for drug delivery in cancer therapy. They can be passively loaded by mixing purified vesicles with small drugs [78–82], or actively loaded by means of laboratory techniques, such as electroporation and sonication [83, 84]. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles conjugated to transferrin have been tested for the isolation of exosomes expressing transferrin receptor from mice blood. After incubation with doxorubicin, they have been used to target liver cancer cells in response to external magnetic fields, inhibiting cell growth both in vitroand in vivo[80]. Kim et al.[83] engineered mouse macrophage-derived exosomes with aminoethyl anisamide-PEG to target sigma receptor, overexpressed in lung cancer cells and passively loaded them with paclitaxel. These systems acted as targeting agents able to suppress metastatic growth in vivo.
What are the clinical trials of loaded exosomes?
Three clinical trials with loaded exosomes are currently ongoing for the treatment of different tumours [85–87]: a phase I trial is evaluating the ability of exosomes to deliver curcumin to normal and colon cancer tissues [85]; a phase II trial is investigating the in vivoperformance of autologous tumour cell-derived microparticles carrying methotrexate in lung cancer patients [86] and a clinical inquiry is focusing on autologous erythrocyte-derived microparticles loaded with methotrexate for gastric, colorectal and ovarian cancer treatment [87].
What are exosomes and EVs?
EVs are classified in two categories based on their biogenesis. Specifically, exosomes are small vesicles of around 30–150 nm origina ted from endosomes in physiological and pathological conditions and released by a fusion of multivesicular bodies (MVBs) to the cell membrane [55, 56], while shed microvesicles (sMVs), with a typical size of 50–1,300 nm, are present in almost any extracellular bodily fluid and are responsible for the exchange of molecular materials between cells [57, 58]. Exosomes are involved in cancer development and spreading [3, 59, 60], in the bidirectional communication between tumour cells and surrounding tissues, and in the construction of the microenvironment needed for pre-metastatic niche establishment and metastatic progression [61]. Hence, circulating vesicles are clinically relevant in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and follow up. Exosomes are actually recognised as valid diagnostic tools, but they can also be isolated and exploited as anti-cancer vaccines or nanosized drug carriers in cancer therapy [62].
