ASCO 2024 - Steve Devine

While advances in cell and gene therapies chip away at the need for bone marrow transplants, the transplantation field remains very much alive and in the midst of innovations of its own.

At ASCO 2024 last month, editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock caught up with Dr Steve Devine, chief medical officer at NMDP, formerly the National Marrow Donor Program.

In the video below, Devine discusses how bone marrow donation has changed a lot over the last decade, from an onerous surgical process characterised by difficult matchmaking to a largely blood donation-driven process wherein, thanks to recent advances, nearly every patient can find a donor.

That last piece is based on new data presented at ASCO showing that a new use of cyclophosphamide to prevent graft vs host disease can drastically improve outcomes for incomplete matches, a finding that has big implications for health equity.

Check out the video to learn more about new advances in bone marrow transplantation, as well as Devine’s thoughts on how cell and gene therapy are changing the role of transplantation – and why donors are still very much needed.