Lab-grown blood gives hope, says sickle cell patient

A women with sickle cell disease said the possibility of lab-grown blood has given her "hope" for the future.

The aim of the new research is to help those with ultra-rare blood groups who need regular transfusions.

Toks Odesanmi has sickle cell disease and goes to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge every six to eight weeks for new red blood cells.

The 48-year-old from Colchester said after a transfusion it was like "getting a fresh lease of life".

The team at Addenbrooke's and the University of Cambridge were working on the study with others in Bristol, London and at NHS Blood and Transplant.

So far, only two people have taken part in the trial, receiving tiny amounts of the blood to see how it reacts with the body.

Ultra-rare blood groups are harder to source and if the blood is not a precise match then the body starts to reject it and the treatment can fail.

Affecting 15,000 people in the UK, sickle cell disease is incurable and requires regular blood transfusions.

Ms Odesanmi said the condition affected the whole of her body.

She said: "I get asked, often, to describe the pain and I can't.

"I've had two hips replaced, one ankle fused, my elbow is getting weakened, my shoulder is being affected and I have a disc bulge in my lower back."

She has also had a liver transplant.

But Ms Odesanmi is hopefully the prospect of the lab-grown blood may mean fewer transfusions in the future.

"Hope is one thing we'll hold on to, hope is all we have," she said.

Researchers hope because the lab-grown blood cells are all fresh they will perform better than a similar transfusion of standard donated red cells, which contains cells of varying ages.

Prof Cedric Ghevaert, consultant haematologist at Cambridge University Hospitals, said: "If our trial is successful, it will mean that patients who currently require regular long-term blood transfusions will need fewer transfusions in future."

He added "the technologies are there" for scaling up the production of the lab-grown blood.

Source: Sickle Cell Society / NHS UK