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Adult stem cell research takes a leap
New York, Aug 2, (AP):
A few months ago, Dr Thomas Einhorn was treating a patient with a broken ankle that wouldn’t heal, even with multiple surgeries. So he sought help from the man’s own body.
Einhorn drew bone marrow from the man’s pelvic bone with a needle, condensed it to about four teaspoons of rich red liquid, and injected that into his ankle.
Four months later the ankle was healed. Einhorn, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Boston University Medical Center, credits “adult” stem cells in the marrow injection. He tried it because of published research from France.
Transplants of adult stem cells have become a standard life-saving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
The Pro-Life Secretariat of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to oppose embryonic work. Deirdre McQuade, an official there, said that compared to adult stem cell research, work on embryonic cells is proving “fruitless.”
Adult cells have been transplanted routinely for decades, first in bone marrow transplants and then in procedures that transfer just the cells. Doctors recover the cells from the marrow or bloodstream of a patient or a donor, and infuse them as part of the treatment for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
Major areas
But it is harnessing these cells for other diseases that has encouraged many scientists lately. In June, for example, researchers reported they had restored vision to people whose eyes were damaged from caustic chemicals.
Stem cells from each patient’s healthy eye were grown and multiplied in the lab and transplanted into the damaged eye, where they grew into healthy corneal tissue. A couple of months earlier, the Vatican announced it was funding adult stem cell research on the intestine at the University of Maryland.
One major focus of adult stem cell work for about a decade has been the ailing heart. While researchers remain committed, much of the early enthusiasm from patients, doctors and investors has slacked off because results so far haven’t matched expectations, says Dr Warren Sherman of Columbia University.
In treating heart attack, for example, studies show stem cell injections help the heart pump blood a bit better, Sherman said. But the research has not yet established whether injections cut the risk of death, more heart attacks or future hospitalisations.
Similarly, in heart failure, research indicates stem cells can ease symptoms but larger studies are still needed to show how good the treatments are, he said. Another heart-related condition under study is critical limb ischemia, where blood flow to the leg is so restricted by artery blockage it causes pain and may require amputation. The goal here is to encourage growth of new blood vessels by injecting stem cells into the leg.
Dr Gabriel Lasala of TCA Cellular Therapy also has reported positive preliminary results. One success is Rodney Schoenhardt of Metairie, La. Schoenhardt (58) had already had surgery on both legs for the disease, and his surgeon was talking about amputating his left leg. For Lasala’s research, Schoenhardt got 40 shots in each leg about 18 months ago, with stem cells going into his left calf and a placebo dose into the other. Soon, he said, the pain in his left leg was gone.
Even as scientists hope adult stem cells will produce new treatments, they are concerned about clinics that make claims about unproven stem cell therapy. “Clinics have sprung up all over the world ... that are essentially selling snake oil, that are preying on the hopes of desperate patients,” said Sean Morrison, a stem cell expert at the University of Michigan. Morrison suggests patients consult their own doctors about going to a clinic.
US clears world’s first stem cell treatment for humans
London, Aug 3, (Agencies): The world’s first experiment using embryonic stem cells to treat humans have been given the go-ahead in the US. California-based biotech firm Geron will begin clinical trials on patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries.
Scientists hope that injecting cells from discarded human embryos into the spines of volunteers will trigger regrowth of damaged nerve cells and eventually allow the patients to recover feeling and movement.
The study was cleared by President Barack Obama a year ago, but was put on hold because some animals on which the company was testing the treatment developed cysts. Now Geron claims it has overcome the problem. Richard Fessler, a neurological surgeon at the Northwestern University who will lead the research, said if the treatment works on humans it would be ‘revolutionary’.
New York, Aug 2, (AP):
A few months ago, Dr Thomas Einhorn was treating a patient with a broken ankle that wouldn’t heal, even with multiple surgeries. So he sought help from the man’s own body.
Einhorn drew bone marrow from the man’s pelvic bone with a needle, condensed it to about four teaspoons of rich red liquid, and injected that into his ankle.
Four months later the ankle was healed. Einhorn, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Boston University Medical Center, credits “adult” stem cells in the marrow injection. He tried it because of published research from France.
Transplants of adult stem cells have become a standard life-saving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
The Pro-Life Secretariat of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to oppose embryonic work. Deirdre McQuade, an official there, said that compared to adult stem cell research, work on embryonic cells is proving “fruitless.”
Adult cells have been transplanted routinely for decades, first in bone marrow transplants and then in procedures that transfer just the cells. Doctors recover the cells from the marrow or bloodstream of a patient or a donor, and infuse them as part of the treatment for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
Major areas
But it is harnessing these cells for other diseases that has encouraged many scientists lately. In June, for example, researchers reported they had restored vision to people whose eyes were damaged from caustic chemicals.
Stem cells from each patient’s healthy eye were grown and multiplied in the lab and transplanted into the damaged eye, where they grew into healthy corneal tissue. A couple of months earlier, the Vatican announced it was funding adult stem cell research on the intestine at the University of Maryland.
One major focus of adult stem cell work for about a decade has been the ailing heart. While researchers remain committed, much of the early enthusiasm from patients, doctors and investors has slacked off because results so far haven’t matched expectations, says Dr Warren Sherman of Columbia University.
In treating heart attack, for example, studies show stem cell injections help the heart pump blood a bit better, Sherman said. But the research has not yet established whether injections cut the risk of death, more heart attacks or future hospitalisations.
Similarly, in heart failure, research indicates stem cells can ease symptoms but larger studies are still needed to show how good the treatments are, he said. Another heart-related condition under study is critical limb ischemia, where blood flow to the leg is so restricted by artery blockage it causes pain and may require amputation. The goal here is to encourage growth of new blood vessels by injecting stem cells into the leg.
Dr Gabriel Lasala of TCA Cellular Therapy also has reported positive preliminary results. One success is Rodney Schoenhardt of Metairie, La. Schoenhardt (58) had already had surgery on both legs for the disease, and his surgeon was talking about amputating his left leg. For Lasala’s research, Schoenhardt got 40 shots in each leg about 18 months ago, with stem cells going into his left calf and a placebo dose into the other. Soon, he said, the pain in his left leg was gone.
Even as scientists hope adult stem cells will produce new treatments, they are concerned about clinics that make claims about unproven stem cell therapy. “Clinics have sprung up all over the world ... that are essentially selling snake oil, that are preying on the hopes of desperate patients,” said Sean Morrison, a stem cell expert at the University of Michigan. Morrison suggests patients consult their own doctors about going to a clinic.
US clears world’s first stem cell treatment for humans
London, Aug 3, (Agencies): The world’s first experiment using embryonic stem cells to treat humans have been given the go-ahead in the US. California-based biotech firm Geron will begin clinical trials on patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries.
Scientists hope that injecting cells from discarded human embryos into the spines of volunteers will trigger regrowth of damaged nerve cells and eventually allow the patients to recover feeling and movement.
The study was cleared by President Barack Obama a year ago, but was put on hold because some animals on which the company was testing the treatment developed cysts. Now Geron claims it has overcome the problem. Richard Fessler, a neurological surgeon at the Northwestern University who will lead the research, said if the treatment works on humans it would be ‘revolutionary’.
