“Latest Stem Cells News”

Researchers have discovered that umbilical cord stem cells, found in the blood of the umbilical cord, and able to differentiate into various types of tissue, represent a valid treatment alternative for leukemia patients that cannot find a compatible donor for a bone marrow transplant. American hematologists meeting in San Francisco for the 50th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Congress are now focusing their research on these types of stem cells to fight blood borne tumors.

An American study has recently called attention to the possible applications of umbilical cord stem cells for leukemia treatments. For years, stem cells transplants have been considered the standard treatment for this form of cancer, but oncologists normally perform autologous transplants using the patient’s own cells or find a compatible stem cell donor, before treating with chemotherapy.

Resorting to incompatible donor cells is considered an extreme measure and creates major problems with rejection and mortality.

“Umbilical cord stem cells, thanks to their immaturity, become a valid alternative if there is too little time, as in cases of acute leukemia,” according to Mary Eapen of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation, working in collaboration with the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and the New York Blood Center.

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“More funds are necessary for research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). More resources to aid more serious and controlled research for cures that slow the degenerating effects of the disease, for example using stem cells”, said Claudio Sabelli, an ALS patient and member of the Board of the ‘Viva la Vita’ society, writing with a visually controlled computer that communicates for him, commenting about announcements on research to fight ALS.

Claudio Sabelli

Sabelli said, “As a patient, I have an opinion that is not supported by facts for the simple reason that there are no new developments. I believe that a lot of financing goes towards weak and inconsistent research ideas. I fear that false expectations like the Igf1 or lithium tests are damaging. It is true that without pinpointing the causes that trigger ALS it is impossible to find an efficient remedy, but it’s also true that in the meantime remedies that slow down its degenerating effects can be found. I am referring to all stem cells, including embryonic stem cells.” He added, “It is pointless to continue with useless arguments: stem cells represent a concrete possibility to cure serious pathologies. Research has to enjoy maximum freedom and autonomy.”

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In the beginning, one cell becomes two, and two become four. Being fruitful, they multiply into a ball of many cells, a shimmering sphere of human potential. Scientists have long dreamed of plucking those naive cells from a young human embryo and coaxing them to perform, in sterile isolation, the everyday miracle they perform in wombs: transforming into all the 200 or so kinds of cells that constitute a human body. Liver cells. Brain cells. Skin, bone, and nerve.

James A. Thomson

The dream is to launch a medical revolution in which ailing organs and tissues might be repaired—not with crude mechanical devices like insulin pumps and titanium joints but with living, homegrown replacements. It would be the dawn of a new era of regenerative medicine, one of the holy grails of modern biology.

Revolutions, alas, are almost always messy. So when James Thomson, a soft-spoken scientist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, reported in November 1998 that he had succeeded in removing cells from spare embryos at fertility clinics and establishing the world’s first human embryonic stem cell line, he and other scientists got a lot more than they bargained for. It was the kind of discovery that under most circumstances would have blossomed into a major federal research enterprise. Instead the discovery was quickly engulfed in the turbulent waters of religion and politics. In church pews, congressional hearing rooms, and finally the Oval Office, people wanted to know: Where were the needed embryos going to come from, and how many would have to be destroyed to treat the millions of patients who might be helped? Before long, countries around the world were embroiled in the debate.

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As Pratik Patil babbles into the pay phone, there is little to indicate that the 27-month-old has been living out of hospitals for over a year. His opaque left eye tells a different story though – his impaired vision is obvious.
On Wednesday, doctors at Bombay Hospital in New Marine Lines announced that they were trying out a new stem cell therapy to restore vision to his affected eye. “In six months, we will know whether he can see or needs a corneal transplant,” said Dr Sonia Nankani of the hospital’s Taparia Opthalmology Centre.

Son of a farmer, Pratik’s saga began 18 months ago in Kagar village of Kolhapur. “We noticed his bloody stool and went to the taluka hospital,” said his father Arun on Wednesday. The child went to several hospitals before undergoing a four-month-long treatment for TB of the intestines at Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central.
“The condition returned and we rushed back to Mumbai,” Pratik’s father said. Though the toddler was soon cured of TB, his left eye suddenly appeared dry and developed a reddish rash. After making rounds of hospitals, they were referred to Dr Nankani, a cornea expert, on December 17 last year.

“I realised he had a stem cell deficiency,” said Dr Nankani. Limbal stem cells, which are present on the rim of the eyes, keep the eyes moist. An injury or as in Pratik’s case, malnutrition brought on by a disease, results in xerosis or dry eye. “As the cornea becomes dry, vision is affected,” she said.

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An international team of physicians and scientists in Florida have discovered a way to treat cardiomyopathy (heart disease) with adult stem cells, including a rare metabolic condition otherwise requiring heart transplant.

Regenocyte Therapeutic is using stem cells extracted from patients’ blood to repair damaged heart muscle, regenerate tissue, and create new vessels to improve circulation. According to the organization’s director of Cardiology and Vascular Disease, Zannos G. Grekos, M.D., by applying specific growth factors to the patient’s stem cells  the team creates a new cell population which is educated to target the area of damage or deficiency when placed into the patient’s heart and blood vessels. “We’ve now treated close to 100 patients with their own stem cells and seen an average 22 point increase in ejection fraction (EF) with a significant improvement in heart failure classification – typically from a Class IV to a Class II status in less than 180 days,” Grekos says.

The cardiomyopathy treatment study, the first 6 months of which was published December 2008 in Anti-Aging Medical News, follows patients through one year post-treatment with autologous adult stem cells, also called Angiogenic Cardio-Regenerative Progenitor cells (ACP’s). Regenocyte’s chief medical advisor Athina Kyritsis, M.D. announced that, “Across the board, no adverse effects from treatment were reported by patients and function plus quality of life measurably improved.” Grekos and his team measured patients’ heart function by cardiac nuclear scans, PET scans, and echocardiographs.

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Stem cells from the brain could be transplanted into the ear to cure hearing loss.
Often, age and overstimulation can damage ciliated cells that act like small microphones, allowing us to hear sounds, noise, and voices and are located in the deep ear (cochlea). About 10% of people experience damage to the cells in this area which leads to hearing loss. The loss of these cells is irreversible, but according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a group of scientists from the University of California substituted them with stem cells taken from another area in the brain.

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