More than 31,000 lifesaving organ transplants have been performed since Mayo Clinic's first organ transplant in 1963. Through advances in organ preservation, stem cell therapies, regenerative medicine, bioengineering and artificial intelligence (AI), Mayo Clinic physicians and scientists have been able to improve patient outcomes throughout the transplant journey.
From restoring organs that would otherwise not be safe for transplantation to advancing a bioengineering research strategy to grow humanlike organs, these innovations are changing the practice of transplant medicine.
Mayo Clinic experts consider organ perfusion systems — mechanical devices that enable donated lungs, hearts, kidneys and livers to remain viable for longer — one of the biggest technological advances in transplantation. As an early adopter of this technology, Mayo Clinic surgeons are restoring organs that would otherwise not be safe for transplantation, meaning more patients have access to lifesaving organ transplants.
“Organ perfusion technology has helped us expand the donor pool and deliver transplants to more patients, all while maintaining some of the best patient outcomes,” says Bashar A. Aqel, M.D., director of the Arizona Transplant Center.
Mayo Clinic research teams are leading efforts to decrease the rate of graft failure or organ transplant rejections. Researchers are determining whether chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy) could be used to control the body's immune response and prevent organ rejection.
CAR-T therapy has mainly been used to treat blood cancers. Applying this technology to transplants would be a new experimental use of CAR-T therapy. The research team expects to begin first-in-human clinical trials in early 2025.
“Some transplant patients have antibodies in their bloodstreams that increase their chances of organ rejection. Unfortunately, that makes it difficult to find a proper match,” says C. Burcin Taner, M.D., chair of the Department of Transplantation at Mayo Clinic in Florida. “We hope research will show whether CAR-T cell therapy could harness the immune system to suppress antibodies that are causing rejection.”
Research leaders are applying AI to detect organ failure earlier and to better manage post-transplant immunosuppression. They are in the early stages of using AI to help determine how a patient’s body will react to immunosuppression medications and guide when the medications should be adjusted. This work may eventually make post-transplant care easier for patients, eliminating the need for routine biopsies and blood draws.
Teams are also leveraging AI to predict the ability of certain medications and devices to prevent kidney failure and pulmonary hypertension. In addition, experts are determining AI’s ability to detect potential effects of early interventions to delay or prevent organ failure and need for organ replacement therapies.
Experts hope that one day there will be a way to engineer new organs using regenerative medicine. Mayo Clinic is advancing a bioengineering research strategy that brings together 3D bioprinting, tissue engineering, biomaterials and cellular materials to grow humanlike organs.
Mayo Clinic is also partnering with external organizations to develop bioengineering capabilities that will benefit patients worldwide. “Bioengineering new organs is promising, but complex. We're looking at a research timeline of 5 to 10 years to potentially bring this new option to patients,” says Dr. Taner.
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