Panama City, Panama
Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad has introduced the option of autologous stem cell transplant for cancer patients not responding to conventional treatments like chemotherapy, radioactivity, and surgery. The treatment is supposed to be the best treatment for young cancer patients but it is not recommended for patients with too many health complications or older patients.
As her three-year-old daughter Eva fought a particularly vicious form of leukemia, Amy Winston-Hart spent many months preparing for the worst.
An infusion of healthy blood stem cells from a bone marrow donor were apparently all that was needed to cure her condition.
However, not one single compatible donor match was found despite searching through more than 11 million people registered in the world wide donor database.
“It was just terrible,” recalls Amy. “Eva was getting worse and there was nothing we could do to save her.”
More than 500 people waited in line at emergency donor recruitment clinics in the family’s home town of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, after the family spoke to the media and encouraged more bone marrow donors to come forward.
A match still proved to be elusive.
“It was agonizing,” says Amy.
“We were doing everything we could, but as time went by we really thought nothing would be found to save her life.”
After the long wait, Eva underwent the lifesaving treatment a few months ago.
The stem cells came from a baby boy born thousands of miles away from the UK in New Jersey, USA. These were not bone marrow stem cells, but cells extracted from umbilical cord blood.
New cell production can be generated by these immature umbilical cord stem cells.
Even if cord blood stem cells are not fully matched, they are also less likely to trigger immune rejection from the recipient’s immune system.
Eva’s future is now filled with optimism and doctors agree to this as well.
But that’s thanks only to the decision by American authorities to store cord stem cells. Stem cells can be stored at the request of families today, and some American states even require that they are stored. The material was almost always discarded only a few years ago.
The U.S. is also one of a number of countries allowing stored cells to be used by other than the immediate family.
“Thank God the Americans are doing this, otherwise Eva just simply would not be here,” said Amy, 28, who works as a party organizer.
Leukemia is newly diagnosed in 500 children each year.
Leukemia and other related blood cancers like lymphoma afflict another 20,000 adults each year as well.
The latest generation of anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs have fortunately, proven themselves to be effective in treating the condition for many sufferers.
But leaving a transplant of blood stem cells from a matched donor as the only hope, the condition is drug resistant in at least one in five patients.
More than half of the 4,400 people who are diagnosed with leukemia die every year. This is partially because these types of donor matches are extremely rare.
Umbilical cord blood stem cells have been used in hospitals around the world to treat more than 85 other rare diseases. The cells can generate new cell production, a fact that has been known to scientists for the past two decades.
However, due to limited funding, a supply of just 1,200 units for the whole of last year was collected by only three NHS hospitals in Britain.
The National Blood Service defended its modest record of cord blood banking and said the practice of freezing and storing the cells is limited by the funding made available by the Department of Health despite the fact that 95 per cent of new mothers are happy to donate the tissue for general use.
“I just cannot understand it,” said Colin McGuckin, professor of regenerative medicine at Newcastle University’s prestigious Centre
for Life.
“We have shown that these cord blood stem cells can not only save the lives of blood cancer patients but have many other uses as well.
“We have shown it is possible to grow them into pancreatic and liver tissue, as well as nerve cells, but unless we have enough cord blood stored, we can’t really do more research or help people.”
Unless the mother declines, umbilical cord blood from all new babies could be collected routinely by NHS if a bill calling for such action is accepted after it is presented in Parliament this month.
“Britain is lagging behind in recognizing the treatment potential from this source of stem cells,’ said David Burrowes, the MP behind the bill.
“It is ridiculous that we are not exploiting it.”
As an insurance policy against their child developing a disease which could be treated by stem cells a number of private companies already collect and store cord blood for families.
The path to private storage costs the donor
A child will undergo groundbreaking stem cell surgery thanks to a gift of life, courtesy of his newborn baby brother Rhys. Weighing in at a healthy 6 lbs and 6 ozs, Rhys was born last Sunday to his proud parents Julian Emms and his fianc
To investigate if blood flow can be restored to the heart by promoting new blood vessels to grow, University of Florida researchers are planning to test a therapy in which stem cells are injected into the hearts of people with daily chest pain and severe coronary artery disease.
Procedures such as bypass surgery or angioplasty were ineffective on these particular patients. Traditional medications also failed to restore blood flow to the hearts of these individuals.
“The general idea is that by providing these cells of blood vessel origin, we hope to either generate new blood vessels from the growth of these implanted cells or stimulate the heart to regenerate new blood vessels from the cells that reside in it,” Carl J. Pepine, lead author of the study, M.D., chief of cardiovascular medicine at UF’s College of Medicine said.
“It’s not completely clear whether it’s the actual cell itself that would do this or whether it’s just the milieu and the chemical signals that occur from the cells that would result in this,” he said.
The forthcoming double blind, placebo-controlled study is known as the Autologous Cellular Therapy CD34-Chronic Myocardial Ischemia Trial, or ACT34-CMI.
Chronic reductions in blood flow to the heart will be investigated. Particularly, the effectiveness and safety of using a patient’s own stem cells to treat this condition will be the focus of the study. 15 patients are enrolled to determine if the treatment will improve symptoms and long-term outcomes.
Exercise tolerance, improvements in quality of life, and whether or not the heart function improves will all be part of the evaluation.
The study involves a number of screening tests, followed by stem cells extraction. In order for stem cell collection to occur, a series of protein injections are administered to the patients that promote the stem cells release from be bone marrow, and into the peripheral blood.
During a procedure called apheresis, the stem cells which are called CD34+ stem cells, are harvested from the patient. Theses cells help stimulate blood vessel growth said Chris Cogle, an assistant professor of medicine at the UF’s College of Medicine Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
A placebo, or one of two different dosing levels of stem cells will be randomly administered to each respective patient.
“Physicians will use a catheter-based electrical mapping system to find muscle they think is still viable but not functioning,” said R. David Anderson, an associate professor of medicine at UF and director of interventional cardiology.
Over the course of a year following the procedure, patients will be periodically evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography.
One trial focuses on patients with congestive heart failure or chronic chest pain that has not responded to traditional treatment, the second trial focuses on patients who have had a heart attack within a week preceding study enrollment, and the third focuses on patients whose heart attack occurred within the preceding two to three weeks.
The cure for devastating diseases such as Parkinson’s may reside in waste material. To be precise, the human umbilical cord, which is often discarded after birth. The stem cells which are found in the umbilical cord blood may play a pivotal role in curing Parkinson’s.
With the hopes of finding a cure, Craig Cady, who is a biology professor at Bradley University, researches stem cells found in bone marrow and umbilical cords.
On Sunday, the riverfront played host to the Shake, Rattle & Roll for Parkinson’s fundraiser. Cady attended the event.
“What we’re trying to do is influence stem cells to change and function like neurons,” he said. “The concept is to replace damaged neurons that were destroyed by Parkinson’s.”
With no specific function, stem cells are unspecialized cells that hold enormous potential. With the ability to develop onto different cells and tissues, such as neurons in the brain, stem cells can be manipulated to provide therapeutic benefit to patients.
“We are getting very close to clinical trials,” he said. “We’re within five years of reasonable clinical trials where we actually try it on patients.”
The group Calipso Connection sponsored the annual event which drew a crowd of several hundred people. Calipso stands for Central Illinois Advocates for Lives Interrupted by Parkinson’s Support Organization.
After struggling with the disease herself, President Joan Snyder started the fundraiser six years ago.
“I thought this was a piece of cake disease,’ she said. ‘Then suddenly the full force of the disease hit me and I had brain surgery.”
During her second brain surgery, a blood vessel was touched and she had stroke on the operating table.
“After the stroke it took me seven months to recover,” she said. “During that time I decided if anyone does anything about this … disease, it would have to be me.”
An estimated $20,000 is expected to be raised by the event.
Cady’s research, and the Peoria Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation are two central Illinois institutions which will benefit from the funds.
“The more funds and support we have, the faster we can do the research,” Cady said. “It takes time and it takes money, unfortunately.”
Now Calipso treasurer, the 42-year-old Troy Webb was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago.
“I decided I wanted to get involved to help find a cure,” he said. “It started slowing my fine motor skills on the right side of the body.”
Doing work that involves a lot of computer use and typing, Webb is a purchasing agent for a chemical company.
“It’s getting harder to type and use a mouse,” he said. “I’m in the process of purchasing voice-activated software so I don’t have to type as much.”
He hopes volunteering with groups like Calipso will help find new treatments and possibly cures for Parkinson’s patients in the future.
A monumental statewide education program that includes over 500,000 Catholic homes and nearly 800 parishes has been launched by the state’s diocesan bishops in Michigan. The Michigan Catholic Conference’s efforts are directed at communicating the Church’s teaching on human life as it relates to adult and embryonic stem cell research.
Paul A. Long, who is the Conference’s Vice President for Public Policy, said that the central messages of the internal education program focuses on the church’s support for adult stem cell research. And their opposition towards embryonic stem cell research is based on the fact it compromises their message.
“Medical science, along with people from different faith and political backgrounds, has recognized that human cloning and the destruction of living embryos for research purposes may not be the most promising way to move forward with stem cell research. Yet because of the great deal of attention given to unproven embryo destructive research, partly through misinformation and even deceit, necessary funding for and the promotion of adult stem cell research have been nearly non-existent. Many people are unaware that adult stem cells are located throughout the human body and are providing treatments, even cures, without harming the donor person,” said Long.
Every registered Catholic home in the state has been sent a 12-minute DVD and a brochure that all emphasize the Church’s support for adult stem cell research along with a letter signed jointly by the state’s diocesan bishops. The materials align with the Conference’s internal education program which has been themed, “The Science of Stem Cells: Finding Cures and Protecting Life.”
According to the bishops’ letter:
“Catholics have the right and duty to assist all who are suffering, and medical science, through adult stem cell research and its proven track record of success, has opened a door of hope. We urge you and your family to spend a few moments reviewing the enclosed material and learning more about the ways by which we can find cures and protect life.”
On Respect Life Sunday, which is October 7th, every parish in the state has been encouraged by its diocesan bishop to address the issue of stem cell research. Sample bulletin announcements, a question and answer document, in addition to the aforementioned brochure and DVD have been distributed to each parish courtesy of the Conference. Also distributed to parishes across the state, were the Conference’s FOCUS essay. Approximately 250,000 copies of the document which addresses the public policy of stem cell research have been distributed.
Educational materials have also been distributed to fraternal organizations, charity agencies, schools, universities, and Catholic hospitals.
Patients who have made significant advances following adult stem cell therapies while defying their medical diagnoses testify to the power of adult stem cell therapy on the DVD that is included with the mailing to Catholic homes.
The DVD features two prominent scientists urging public support for adult stem cell research, includes an interview with a nurse and bioethicist who addresses the effects of egg extraction and human cloning on women, and dissects the scientific differences between adult and embryonic stem cell research.
Conditions such as sickle cell anemia, Parkinson’s disease, lymphoma, numerous forms of cancer, Type-1 diabetes and many other conditions are currently being treated thanks to adult stem cell research. The list of conditions numbers over 70.
A full list of conditions which benefit from adult stem cell research can be found at StemCellResearch.org
Since adult stem cells are derived from various locations throughout the human body such as, dental pulp, bone marrow, fat tissues, amniotic fluid, and umbilical cord blood, there is no harm to the donor when adult stem cell research is conducted.
In order to extract its stem cells, the destruction of human embryos is necessary to conduct embryonic stem cell research. This is the reason the Catholic Church is opposed to the science. Embryonic stem cell research also involves cloning in some cases. However, most important to those interested in stem cell research should be the fact that embryonic stem cell research has never produced a single treatment or cure.
Michigan’s Catholic diocesan bishops are: His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida, Archbishop of Detroit; Most Reverend Patrick R. Cooney, Bishop of Gaylord; Most Reverend Walter A. Hurley, Bishop of Grand Rapids; Most Reverend James A. Murray, Bishop of Kalamazoo; Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing; Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Bishop of Marquette; and Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, Bishop of Saginaw.
Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.
A monumental statewide education program that includes over 500,000 Catholic
homes and nearly 800 parishes has been launched by the state’s diocesan bishops in Michigan. The Michigan Catholic Conference’s efforts are directed at communicating the Church’s teaching on human life as it relates to
adult and embryonic stem cell research.
Paul A. Long, who is the Conference’s Vice President for Public Policy, said that the central messages of the internal education program focuses on the church’s support for adult stem cell research. And their opposition towards embryonic stem cell research is based on the fact it compromises their message.
“Medical science, along with people from different faith and
political backgrounds, has recognized that human cloning and the
destruction of living embryos for research purposes may not be the most
promising way to move forward with stem cell research. Yet because of the
great deal of attention given to unproven embryo destructive research,
partly through misinformation and even deceit, necessary funding for and
the promotion of adult stem cell research have been nearly non-existent.
Many people are unaware that adult stem cells are located throughout the
human body and are providing treatments, even cures, without harming the
donor person,” said Long.
Every registered Catholic home in the state has been sent a 12-minute DVD and a brochure that all emphasize the Church’s support for adult stem cell research along with a letter signed jointly by the state’s diocesan bishops. The materials align with the Conference’s internal education program which has been themed,
A small group of patients with multiple sclerosis were enrolled in a new pilot clinical trial to test bone marrow stem cell therapy at Frenchay Hospital. The aim of the trial is to find out what effects, good or bad, it has on patients with MS, and their disability. It is being conducted by the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust.
Bone marrow is of great interest to those working to develop new treatments for many diseases, including those affecting the nervous system since the marrow is known to contain stem cells capable of replacing cells in many types of tissues and organs.
Until now, patients have not been treated in this manner, but laboratory studies in Bristol and elsewhere have worked with similar cells to determine potential benefits to aid repair in multiple sclerosis.
The trial is being led by the University of Bristol and Neil Scolding who is a Professor of Clinical Neurosciences for North Bristol NHS Trust.
He said: “We believe this form of adult stem cell treatment, carried out in collaboration with colleagues in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the BRI, will be safe and well-tolerated but, because patients with MS have never had this treatment before, safety has to be proven before any further studies of larger numbers of patients can take place.”
“We will therefore be monitoring this small number of patients extremely carefully over the next 9-12 months. Provided, as is envisaged, we do not find serious adverse effects, we hope to raise the funds to undertake a larger study to examine the effectiveness of such treatment in MS.”
To determine general fitness and degree of disability from MS, patients meeting the initial entry criteria were assessed in the Neurology department and the Burden Centre at Frenchay Hospital.
Frenchay and also at The Hammersmith Hospital in London, various types of brain scans were conducted. Then the patients underwent bone marrow collection under a short general anesthetic at the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the BRI.
Via a vein in the arm, the stem cells are delivered back to the patient later the same day after they have been processed from the marrow.
A range of various monitoring tests and scans at Frenchay and in London are then carried out over the following weeks and months.
The successful removal of ammonia, a highly toxic by-product which causes brain damage, coma, and even death, and the production of urea was announced today by HepaLife Technologies, Inc. They developed a first-of-its-kind artificial liver device where the company’s patented PICM-19 liver stem cells were placed inside its proprietary artificial liver device to produce the positive results.
“Today’s results demonstrate that, while inside our bioartificial liver device, HepaLife’s PICM-19 cells are able to produce substantial amounts of urea and remove toxic ammonia, while remaining healthy, and replicating important liver-like functions,” stated Mr. Frank Menzler, President and CEO of HepaLife. “This is a significant achievement that marks a major milestone in the development of our artificial liver device.”
“These new results have certainly exceeded our early performance expectations of the HepaLife bioartificial liver design. Our goal is to now further evaluate the HepaLife bioartificial liver system in-vitro and in-vivo, and continue to move closer to an application with the Food and Drug Administration for our cell-based device.”
Similar to the functions mimicked by HepaLife’s PICM-19 cells in today’s research outcomes, the biological cells inside the device which are responsible for truly replicating and performing the functions of the human liver are the most vital component of the artificial liver device, not the actual mechanical hardware say researchers.
Over the entire duration of the study, the system successfully produced significant amounts urea and liver-specific protein such as albumin while removing toxic ammonia confirmed research data from experiments with the PICM-19 cells inside HepaLife’s artificial liver device. Reaching peak levels at termination of the study after two weeks, the production of urea and albumin increased over time, marking the most important outcome of the study.
Since cells which are not contact-inhibited tend to become cancerous, an important indicator if normal cell growth was that the PICM-19 liver cells remained contact-inhibited. This confirmed earlier findings in observations of cell replication and growth. The HepaLife’s PICM-19 cells inside its liver device system remained non-tumorigenic.
An indication of the cells’ physical form and structure was observed in the same test. Normal morphology was displayed as the HepaLife’s PICM-19 liver stem cells successfully differentiated into hepatocytes (liver cells).
Researchers analyzed levels of lactate and glucose — indicators of metabolic function — alongside oxygen and carbon dioxide, respectively, when evaluating the chemical function and overall health of the PICM-19 liver cells inside HepaLife’s bioartificial liver system. Throughout the duration of the studies, these monitored levels remained favorably within targeted parameters in all cases.
“These results suggest that HepaLife’s bioartificial liver system is an artificially created, ‘living biosystem’ — our goal from the early beginning — with cells that behave as we have long desired for our artificial liver device,” concluded Mr. Menzler.
Intended for the treatment of liver failure, the HepaLife(TM) Bioartificial Liver device consists of three basic components: (1), the HepaDrive(TM), a perfusion system for pumping the patient’s plasma through the bioreactor while controlling gas supply and temperature for best possible performance of the cells; (2)the bioreactor, a unit filled with PICM-19 cells which biologically mimic the liver’s function; and (3) a plasma filter, separating the patient’s blood into blood plasma and blood cells.
HepaLife is developing the first-of-its-kind bioartificial liver while incorporating the PICM-19 cell line. Designed to operate outside the patient’s body HepaLife’s bioartificial liver is currently under development. The bioartificial liver processes the patient’s blood-plasma by removing toxins, enhancing metabolic function, and ultimately, imitates the liver’s natural function.
The bioartificial liver is envisioned to mimic important functions of the human liver by circulating the patient’s blood inside the device, where it is exposed to HepaLife’s patented PICM-19 liver stem cells.
There may be new hope for individuals suffering from Huntington’s disease — a fatal disorder for which there is currently no cure or even a treatment to slow the disease. A new avenue of research has been opened by scientists who were sparked by an odd biological phenomenon: how a canary learns a new song.
Stem-cell therapy might someday be used to treat the disease according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The Journal of Clinical Investigation published their paper on September 20th.
In the brains of mice affected by a form of Huntington’s, the team used gene therapy to guide the development of endogenous stem cells. Many more new, viable brain cells as well as significantly longer and healthier lives characterized the treated mice. This was in stark contrast to the their non-treated counterparts.
Neurologist Steven Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., the lead author of the study said that the study offers a new approach in the fight against Huntington’s, but that it is too early to predict whether such a treatment might work in people. The knowledge of the defective gene hasn’t yet translated to better care for patients despite scientists being aware of the gene for more than a decade.
“There isn’t much out there right now for patients who suffer from this utterly devastating disease,” said Goldman, who is at the forefront developing new techniques to try to bring stem-cell therapy to the bedside of patients. “While the promise of stem cells is broadly discussed for many diseases, it’s actually conditions like Huntington’s — where a very specific type of brain cell in a particular region of the brain is vulnerable — that are most likely to benefit from stem-cell-based therapy.”
The lead authors of the latest paper are former post-doctoral associate Sung-Rae Cho, Ph.D., now at Yonsei University in South Korea, and Abdellatif Benraiss, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The latest results have their roots in research Goldman did more than 20 years ago as a graduate student at Rockefeller University. Goldman discovered that every time a canary learns a new song, it creates new brain cells called neurons. He was doing basic neuroscience studies and investigating how exactly canaries learn new songs. His doctoral thesis opened the door to the possibility that the brain has a font of stem cells that could serve as the source for new cells. His 1983 thesis was also the first report of neurogenesis — the production of new brain cells — in the adult brain.
The finding led to a career for Goldman, who has created ways to isolate stem cells. Goldman’s group has learned how to re-create signals to direct the cells’ development. These molecular signals that help determine what specific types of cells they become were also discovered by Goldman thanks to their innovative techniques.
Benraiss has worked closely with Goldman for more than 10 years on the Huntington’s project.
“The type of brain cell that allows a canary to learn a new song is the same cell type that dies in patients with Huntington’s disease,” said Goldman, professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Pediatrics, and chief of the Division of Cell and Gene Therapy. “Once we worked out the molecular signals that control the development of these brain cells, the next logical step was to try to trigger their regeneration in Huntington’s disease.”
Affecting about 30,000 people in the United States, Huntington’s is an inherited disorder. The condition results in depression, irritability, cognitive difficulties, problems with coordination, and involuntary movements. These symptoms can be contributed to a defective gene which results in the death of vital brain cells known as medium spiny neurons. When patients reach their 30’s or 40’s, the young to mid adulthood range, symptoms usually begin to appear. The disease is fatal and their is currently no way to slow the progression of the disease.
Scientists must learn the extensive molecular signaling that shapes their development before stem cells can be used to replace neurons lost in Huntington’s and almost any disease. In the brain, a stem cell might become a medium spiny neuron or a dopamine-producing neuron to replace the cells destroyed by Huntington’s or Parkinson’s. However, the fate of the stem cells depends on a tremendous number of biochemical signals.
To replace those that had become defective in mice with the disease, Goldman’s team set up a one-two molecular punch as a recipe for generating new medium spiny neurons. Extra copies of two genes were carried into a region of the mouse brain called the ventricular wall, which is home to stem cells. This was achieved by using a cold virus known as adenovirus. The neostriatum, which is affected by Huntington’s disease, is very close to the ventricular wall which was the final destination for the stem cells.
To help stop stem cells from becoming another type of cell in the brain, an astrocyte, extra copies of a gene called Noggin were used. To help the stem cells to become neurons, they also put in extra copies of the gene for BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Basically, stem cells were bathed in a brew that had extra Noggin and BDNF to direct their development into medium spiny neurons.
The results were dramatic in the mice which had a severe form of Huntington’s disease. Compared to no new neurons in mice that weren’t treated, several thousand newly formed medium spiny neurons were observed in the neostriatum when the treatment mice were examined. The treated mice were more coordinated, active, and healthier for a significantly longer period of time compared to the untreated mice. They lived about 17 percent longer compared to the untreated mice.
The experiment was designed to test the idea that scientists could generate new medium spiny neurons in an organism where those neurons had already become sick. Goldman is working on ways to extend the duration of the improvement now that the capability has been demonstrated. Treatment in patients is the ultimate goal for the future.
“This offers a strategy to restore brain cells that have been lost due to disease. That could perhaps be coupled with other treatments currently under development,” said Goldman. Many of those treatments are being studied at the University, which is home to a Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence and is the base for the Huntington Study Group.
In addition to Benraiss, Cho, and Goldman, other authors include former Cornell graduate student Eva Chmielnicki, Ph.D.; Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Amer Samdani, M.D., now at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia; and Aris Economides of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The work was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Hereditary Disease Foundation, and the High Q Foundation.
