WellChild Capital Projects

Liver Cell Therapy Unit (King's College, London)

 

Lead researcher: Professor Anil Dhawan, King's College London    

Synopsis: Liver disease in children occurs for a number of reasons - it can be inherited or caused by a virus. As there are no artificial systems that can replace a liver’s functions, liver disease is life threatening and liver transplant is sometimes the only treatment. The Unit at King’s College Hospital London is recognised internationally for its work in liver disease and transplantation and has the largest transplant programme in Europe treating more than 300 very sick children each year. 

Liver disease used to be a virtual death sentence but significant progress has been made over the past 25 years which includes: 

• ‘split liver’ transplants – where a donor liver can be divided for use in up to three different patients

• ‘living related’ transplants – where part of a liver is donated by a member of the sick child’s family

• the early identification of likely rejection in liver transplants and new tratments to improve tolerance.

 

This has all lead to incredible improvements in the outcome of treatment for children with liver disease - 25 years ago, seven in 10 children died; now it is fewer than two in 10.

But transplants carry significant risk, are extremely costly and are dependant on the availability of liver donors. Children also need to remain on strong anti rejection drugs for the rest of their lives, which can have a negative impact on their quality of life.

Cell therapy is a ground breaking new treatment, pioneered by WellChild researchers and first used successfully in April 2003. Healthy cells from donor livers are transplanted into the child with liver disease to treat, or replace, the defective cells causing the disease. The procedure takes a matter of minutes and has dramatic results taking over the functions of the missing or damaged cells, literally bringing the child back to life.

To further develop this exciting new treatment, the researchers urgently need to build and equip a new secure and sterile Cell Therapy Unit to provide the optimum conditions and equipment to pursue their innovative work. They will share this facility with other researchers focusing on other ‘cell failure’ diseases such as cancer and diabetes, encouraging the sharing of ideas and making the best use of the facilities.