June 21 (HealthDay News) -- A new method of increasing blood stem cells could one day promote quicker recovery of immune system function in patients who've undergone chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant for leukemia and other cancers, researchers say.

Blood stem cells have the capability to develop into assorted types of blood cells.

In experiments with zebrafish, the researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrated that a stable analog of prostaglandin can enhance production of blood stem cells, both during embryonic development and after the blood-forming system has been damaged.

The finding about dmPGE2 -- a long-acting derivative of prostaglandin E2 -- marks the first time that stem cell production has been induced by a small molecule drug, said study senior author Dr. Leonard Zon of the hospital's Stem Cell Program and Division of Hematology/Oncology.

Hospital researchers now plan to conduct a clinical trial of dmPGE2, which was originally tested 20 years ago as a treatment for gastritis but was never marketed as a drug.

The trial, expected to begin in 2008, will include leukemia patients receiving cord blood transplants. Some of the cord blood the patients receive to replenish their blood systems will be treated with dmPGE2.

Results of the new study are published in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature.