News & Events | Pioneer in Platelet Research Presents Findings at ASH Conference

Puget Sound Blood Center researcher presents findings on extending storage of platelets, has lifesaving potential for thousands

DECEMBER 2, 2003, SEATTLE — Sherrill Slichter, M.D., Puget Sound Blood Center executive vice president of research, will present new information at the 45th Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Conference, in San Diego, Calif. that may hold the key to making a lifesaving blood component more readily available. The ASH Conference, one of the country’s largest gathering of blood scientists and hematologists, convenes from Dec. 6-9, 2003. The mission of ASH is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic and other systems, by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology.

According to Dr. Slichter, an internationally recognized expert in platelet research, early findings indicate that it may be possible to augment platelet preservation from 5 days – to 8 days or more. Platelets are a blood component essential to keep people from bleeding and the survival of cancer patients and victims of trauma depends upon a steady supply of them.

Platelets, however, are extremely fragile and require special handling and storage in order to keep them viable. Naturally, prolonging their availability may save more lives, since blood centers across the country may be able to ship platelets greater distances or to more remote parts of the country.

“Increasing platelet storage times can have tremendous implications for transfusion medicine,” said Dr. Slichter. “Today’s stem cell transplantation for cancer patients, for example, just would not be possible if not for the availability of platelets. Additionally, anyone suffering from extreme trauma requires platelet transfusions to control their bleeding. By extending the shelf life of platelets, maintaining an adequate supply becomes less difficult.”

Dr. Slichter will present her research study, entitled “Long-Term Platelet Storage: In Vivo Platelet Viability Maintained for 8 Days in Plasma and 13 Days in Plasmalyte,” on Dec. 8 before many of the country’s leading hematologists and scientists.

Though the research is in its early stages and still requires FDA approval, the findings are significant.

About ASH
The American Society of Hematology is the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders. Because blood is essential to human function, the science of hematology profoundly affects the understanding of many diseases.

Each December, the Society's annual meeting provides hematologists from around the world a forum for discussing critical issues in hematology. Nearly 20,000 clinicians, scientists, and others attend the four-day meeting, which consists of a superb educational program and cutting-edge scientific sessions. Oral and poster presentations, which are chosen by peer-reviewers from abstracts submitted prior to the annual meeting, are featured at the annual meeting and contain the latest and most exciting developments in scientific research. Plenary symposia and named lectures on specialized areas of hematology are also presented throughout the meeting program. During the annual meeting, attendees can also visit the state-of-the-art exposition, which features exhibits from pharmaceutical companies, medical suppliers, clinical diagnostic and research-based companies, publishers, and non-profit organizations.

About The Puget Sound Blood Center
Internationally recognized for groundbreaking research in transfusion and transplantation medicine, the nonprofit Puget Sound Blood Center is the resource for patients in Western Washington who need blood, tissue and specialized laboratory services. Founded in 1944, and celebrating 60 years of innovation, the Blood Center has a long and unique tradition of blending community volunteerism, medical science and research to improve patients’ lives. The Blood Center, which serves patients in more than 70 hospitals and clinics in 14 counties with blood services, provides tissue and transplantation support to 185 hospitals across the Northwest.