Thomas Spitzer, M.D.


Physician Investigator (Cl)
Cancer Center, Mass General Research Institute
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Physician
Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital
MD University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry 1974
bone marrow transplantation; cord blood stem cell transplantation; graft vs host disease; hematologic malignancy; hematologic neoplasms; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; immune tolerance; kidney transplants; mixed chimerism; transplantation chimera; transplantation conditioning

My research interests have focused on the development of non-myeloablative preparative therapy for HLA-matched and mismatched donor transplantation for hematologic malignancy. With this approach, mixed chimerism has been reliably achieved and durable remissions have been demonstrated in patients with chemorefractory malignancy.

For the first time, using this technique, sustained mixed lineage lymphohematopoietic chimerism has been induced following HLA haploidentical transplantation, and the results of this experience have been published in multiple journals, including Lancet and Transplantation.

In addition, I am working closely with the solid organ transplant program in the development of mixed chimerism transplant strategies for the induction of donor specific allotolerance.

From this collaboration, the first successful HLA matched donor bone marrow and kidney transplants for end stage renal disease due to multiple myeloma have been performed. Donor specific tolerance following combined bone marrow and kidney transplantation for renal failure in which there is no underlying malignancy has also been achieved with this strategy.

The results of this experience, in which sustained specific tolerance was achieved in 4 of 5 patients, were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Publications Clinical Profile
tspitzer@mgh.harvard.edu
6177241124

Emerson Place #0
0 Emerson Place
Boston, MA 02114