Aiding the understanding of how stem cells can be used to treat disease and injury, researchers at Edinburgh University have made new discoveries about stem cells.

Previously thought to operate like an on/off switch for duplication, the findings focus on the nanog stem cell.

But the cells actually control the efficiency with which stem cells duplicate according to findings by scientists at Edinburgh University. Nanog operates like a dimmer switch.

For use in medicine, the findings give scientists greater control over stem cell behavior.

A finding that may lead to more effective treatment of leukemia and other blood diseases, Stanford University researchers have isolated a human blood cell that represents the “great grandparent” of all blood cells.

The cell gives rise to all other cells of the blood since it is the first offspring of blood-forming stem cells that reside in bone marrow. The cell itself is called the multi-potent progenitor.

Never before isolated in humans, the multi-potent progenitor was previously well-known in mice.

The research was performed by Dr. Irving Weissman, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Biology, co-lead author Dr. Ravindra Majeti, an instructor in hematology, and co-lead author Dr. Christopher Park, an instructor in pathology.

“We can compare the leukemic stem cell to this progenitor cell and from that find out what makes the leukemic stem cell different,” Weissman said, which could lead to new treatments for leukemia patients.

Doctors repaired breast defects in women who have had cancerous lumps removed by using stem cells from liposuctioned fat for the first time.

After cancer surgery, women are often left with cratered areas of the breast. Although the approach is still in experimental stages, millions of women now have hope in correcting post breast cancer surgery deformities. Without using artificial implants, women who desire breast augmentation surgery could also benefit from the technique.

Doctors in the United States consider the procedure to have great potential, despite the fact that it has been tested on only two dozen women in Japan so far.

“This is a pretty exciting topic right now in plastic surgery,” said Dr. Karol Gutowski of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There are people all over the country working on this.”

Larger studies are in the works, and they should take place in Japan and Europe next year. The initial Japanese study was reported Saturday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 women have lumps removed from their breasts. Taking the entire breast, mastectomies are sometimes necessary, but lumpectomies are often the procedure of choice. However, as much as a third of a woman’s breast may still be removed, and what’s left is often deformity.

“It’s almost a euphemism” to call it a lumpectomy, said Dr. Sydney Coleman, a plastic surgeon at New York University who is interested in the stem cell approach.

Dr. Sameer Patel, a reconstructive surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, said that the defect “initially may not be as noticeable”. However, he was quick to point out that the result often worsens, especially if the woman undergoes radiation treatment.

“There’s a growing push to try to involve the plastic surgeon particularly for this reason — to try to avoid a defect,” but once one develops, options to repair it are limited, Patel said.

Odd-shaped deformities from radiation or lumpectomies cannot be repaired properly with the implants that are sold today. They are not designed to repair this type of damage.

“Each one is so different, there’s no little thing you can just pop in there,” Gutowski explained.

Rearranging tissue to more evenly distribute what’s left, transplanting a back muscle to boost the flawed breast, or attempting to make the opposite breast smaller in order to match better are all current methods that are used by doctors to remedy the problem. But these procedures involve surgery and leave scars.

Often dieing and turning hard and lumpy, or getting reabsorbed into the body, mini implants of fat tissue have been attempted. Interest in the use of fat cells has been renewed with the recent discovery that fat cells are rich in stem cells — master cells that can replenish themselves and form other tissues in the body.

From the thighs, hips, or tummies of 21 breast cancer patients, doctors liposuctioned fat in the Japanese study. Half was processed to extract stem cells, and the other half was reserved as the main implant material and combined with the extracted stem cells following extraction. The fat/stem cell mixture was injected in three locations around the breast defect.

Doctors believe the stem cells will form lasting mini implants and keep the tissue from dying.

Dr. Keizo Sugimachi of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan said that “about 80 percent of the patients are satisfied” with the results eight months after the procedure.

At one and six months after treatment, was a statistically significant improvement in breast tissue thickness.

The potential for cosmetic breast augmentation of healthy breasts is there, but the goal is to help cancer patients with their unmet medical needs first said Dr. Mark Hedrick.

The treatment is expected to cost $3,000 to $5,000.

Doctors must be cautious about using fat cells for cosmetic purposes until more is known says The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Gutowski heads a task force the society formed to study the science. Coleman is a member.

“It’s got great potential not only for breast but other cosmetic and reconstructive purposes,” like filling in facial defects from cancer or trauma, Gutowski said. “Imagine the aging face.”

More women may choose lumpectomies with the rise of better cosmetic treatments. Younger women in particular have opted for mastectomies because they are concerned about being left with a defect.

Now left with mismatched breasts Laurie Rapp was only 32 when she had a lumpectomy.

“One is so much smaller than the other one,” said the now 48-year-old restaurant manager in Philadelphia. “There’s quite a bit of puckering, and as I’m getting older I feel it’s getting worse.”

If the procedure would have been available when she had her surgery, she would have opted for the stem cells, but probably wouldn’t try it now.

“I definitely would have, especially because I wasn’t even married then,” she said.

Not an embryo and without the possibility of ever becoming one,

Finishing book reports and other homework may seem daunting to most 14-year-old boys. But when Matthew Baremore woke up and finished his assignments on Tuesday morning, the school work was cake compared to the medical history he made.

Matthew has scoliosis, and using a concentrated cocktail of his own stem cells and those donated from bone, he became the first in the state to undergo spinal fusion surgery.

New bone growth is facilitated by the stem cell technology and healing is also accelerated. The process of harvesting a piece of Matthews bone, which involves a second procedure, is also avoided with this method.

“Right now he has a fairly large bump on his back (and) his rib cage is being forced out of position,” Matthew’s mother, Becky, said as she ran her hand along his back.

With the potential to eventually interfere with Matthews breathing, the 50 percent curvature would have likely worsened if left untreated. That would result in a serious modification in his life, one that involves a passion for playing basketball.

Bone marrow was harvested from the teen’s pelvic bones by Dr. Mark Flood, a pediatric spine surgeon, at Banner Desert Children’s Hospital. The procedure took approximately four hours. Using centrifuge technology patented by an Austin, Texas firm, stem cells were extracted from the marrow.

Flood straightened and bolstered Matthew’s spine with a series of rods and pins _ a typical surgical treatment for severe scoliosis.

Crushed bone marrow from the hospital bone bank was combined with Matthew’s own stem cells which had been concentrated to 10 times the levels normal with traditional methods.

Between the rods, the puttylike mixture was injected into the upper-middle section of Matthew’s spine. The spine will be protected against further curvature with the mixture growing into bone in the injected location.

“What’s revolutionary is the use of the concentrated stem cells,” Flood said before the surgery. “We can avoid the pain of taking bone, and increase fusion.”

There is no cure for Scoliosis. The condition affects about two to three percent of the population and results in the spine curving in an “S” shape from side to side.

Curvatures of 25 to 40 degrees in adults and children may require a back brace, however, most individuals require no treatment. If the curve is more severe or the brace fails to correct the problem, surgery is recommended.

Until now, the surgical option usually required a bone graft, a second surgery and longer recovery.

Often diagnosed between the ages of 10 and 14, scoliosis can develop gradually. As Matthew hit puberty, he quickly grew to 6-foot-1, marking a fast development in his scoliosis. During a physical exam last spring, his condition was first noted.

Matthew was looking forward to getting the procedure over with on Tuesday. The eighth-grader and his twin brother Jordan, may have been a bit camera shy as well, with a media entourage following them around in the hospital.

Matthew’s strong bones made the procedure a bit more challenging, but Flood said that the surgery was a success.

“Everything went fine. Now it’s up to him to get through these next few days,” he said.

Matthew will return to school at Villa Montessori in Phoenix after a four to five day recovery stay in the hospital. He must wait at least one year before he can play basketball again, but rehabilitation therapy will start in about six weeks to improve strength and flexibility in his muscles.

“He’ll bounce back quickly,” Flood said. “That’s how kids are.”

With the ultimate goal of being able to use stronger chemotherapy treatment with less severe side effects, Ireland Cancer Center researchers have recently made great strides in stem cell gene therapy research by transferring a new gene to cancer patients, via their own stem cells. In order to protect cells from the damage of chemotherapy regimens, a drug-resistance gene called MGMT isadded into purified hematopoietic stem cells.

Eight patients were enrolled in a trial where theywere infused with their own stem cells which were engineered to carry the MGMT gene. Two of the eight patients received a placebo. This presentation, which was made byStanton Gerson, MD, and colleagues from Ireland Cancer Center atthe annual American Society of Hematology meeting. It was one of 24 presentations that were made. Gerson and his team revealed significant new findings with this gene and drug combination. The gene was identified in three of the patient’s bone marrow or blood. Up to 28 weeks following administration, one of the patients still carried the gene.

Dr. Gerson, who is the Director of the Ireland Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, said that “this study is the first to show the success of treatment with evidence that stem cells now carry the new gene.”

Gerson, along with his team of researchers, led the Phase I study.

By tweaking stem cells from patients’ muscles, European scientists today announced that it may be possible to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Muscles weaken over time in patients afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Despite only affecting boys, Duchenne’s is one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy out of a total of nine major types.

The muscle function in mice was improved with the use of their stem cell technique reported the European scientists.

The technique “represents a promising approach for Duchenne muscular dystrophy” but needs more work, write the researchers. They included Rachid Benchaouir of Italy’s University of Milan.

A sample of adult stem cells was extracted from the muscles of the mice afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy as an initial step.

Dystrophin, which is a protein needed for muscle development, is limited in patients with the condition due to a genetic glitch. The scientists moved to correct this error in the next step.

Lastly, the mice were “re-introduced” to the corrected cells via injection.

Allowing the mice to run longer in a treadmill test and improving the mice’s muscles overall, the tweaked stem cells made more dystrophin within 45 days following the stem cell treatment.

Stem cell scientists are careful even though the process sounds simple. There are many challenges that must be considered and monitored during treatment and cell preparation prior to injection.

Dogs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were treated last year by another team of scientists.

The journal Cell Stem Cell has published the details of the new experiments in their December issue.