“Latest Stem Cells News”

Viet Nam’s National Hospital of Pediatrics in Ha Noi this morning announced the initial success of its first stem cell therapy treatment of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), making it only the second medical institution in the world to successfully treat this genetic skin disease in this manner.

Children with EB lack a protein that anchors the outer layer of skin to the body, resulting in very fragile skin that peels off with minor friction or trauma. They suffer painful wounds and infections which eventually are fatal.

The four-year-old boy who underwent the bone marrow transplant received tissue taken from his sister, aged 10, on September 16, to stimulate the production of healthy skin cells.

Nguyen Viet Anh had a severe form of EB, which caused his toes to stick to each other and skin to peel off the inside of his mouth, said hospital director Nguyen Thanh Liem.

“It is a very complicated technology but we are happy that the donor’s bone marrow tissue has taken in his body,” he said.

Anh’s white cell count has increased to a normal level 40 days after the transplant from almost zero. The area of affected skin is now only 7 per cent of the body, a big progress from 23 per cent before the transplant.

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Doctors hope a Nottinghamshire boy with leukaemia can undergo a stem cell transplant in May.

Roman Cusick, from Calverton, is currently recovering from chemotherapy.

If he is deemed to be well enough, he will receive cells from an umbilical cord from a German donor in a procedure at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

In February almost 200 people in Calverton helped took part in a saliva test to see if they were a suitable match.

Leukaemia occurs when large numbers of white blood cells take over the bone marrow, leaving the body unable to produce enough normal blood cells.

Health Counselor Board, Javier Alvarez Guisasola, launched on Wednesday a clinical trial coordinated by Professor Margarita Calonge, IOBA’s on cell therapy applied to treat corneal blindness.
This study was coordinated by the IOBA and IBGM to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of the epithelial stem cell transplantation of the cornea, previously cultivated to restore corneal blindness. Stem cells come from a healthy eye of the patient or family support.

TaiGen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. announced today that in a phase 1 study in healthy volunteers TG-0054, a chemokine receptor CXCR4 antagonist, was well tolerated and rapidly mobilized stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells from bone marrow into peripheral blood. The number of CD34+ stem cells in circulation after one dose of TG-0054 was equal or higher than reported cell numbers needed for stem cell transplantation in cancer patients. The observed AEs were all mild and transient. A phase 2 study in stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin disease patients is currently being initiated (…)

“We are greatly encouraged by the phase 1 study results which indicates that TG-0054 has the potential to be used alone, not in combination with G- CSF, for allogenic or autologous stem cell transplantation in cancer patients. This should greatly reduce the hospital and other associated cost for such a procedure. Importantly, the activity and safety profile in the phase 1 study will support our future development of TG-0054 in chemosensitization and tissue ischemia, including myocardial infarction, stroke and severe intermittent claudication. Our preclinical animal disease models and the phase 1 study results lend strong support to clinical development for these clinical indications,” said Dr. Ming-Chu Hsu, Chairman & CEO of TaiGen (…)

from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/excellent-stem-cell-mobilization-and-safety-profile-for-tg-0054-62316942.html

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Scripps Research Institute scientists have offered new hope for parents whose children suffer from the rare genetic disorder ‘cystinosis’ by showing through an experiment on mice that stem cell transplantation can successfully correct the defect (…)

In the study, the researchers used bone marrow stem cell transplantation to address symptoms of cystinosis in a mouse model (…)

In the new study, the researchers found that transplanted bone marrow stem cells carrying the normal lysosomal cystine transporter gene abundantly engrafted into every tissue of the experimental mice (…)

“The results really surprised and encouraged us. Because the defect is present in every cell of the body, we did not expect a bone marrow stem cell transplant to be so widespread and effective,” says Cherqui.
Cherqui said that adult bone marrow stem cell therapy is particularly well suited as a potential treatment for cystinosis because these cells target all types of tissues.

In addition, stem cells reside in the bone marrow for the duration of a patient”s life, becoming active as needed, a particular benefit for a progressive disease like cystinosis. The study has been published in the journal Blood.

from http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-114380.html

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Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Milano

Methods to provide safer stem cell transplants to individuals who are not completely compatible with the donor are being developed. Encouraging results have come from a post-transplant cellular therapy, which strengthens the immune system against viral infections and tumors, developed for the first time at the National Tumor Institute (INT) in Milan. The INT conducted the first phase I-II study in the world, published in ‘Blood’, whose main objective was to assess the use of a low dose radiochemotherapy, followed by low dose post-transplant infusions CD8-depleted donor lymphocytes after a 50% compatible hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

The objective of the study was to reduce transplant toxicity and improve immune system function after the transplant to reduce mortality due to infections and relapses. Stem cell transplants from fully compatible donors (HLA-identical) are an option for many individuals with blood-borne cancers. However, only 50-60% of these patients are able to find a fully compatible donor in their families or on the international donor registry. For leukemia and lymphoma patients with a high risk for early relapse who are not able to find an identical donor, the only concrete alternative is a transplant from a 50% compatible family donor (haploidentical donor) or umbilical cord stem cell transplants for child or low weight patients.

In the past, the use of partially compatible donors was prevented by severe side effects. New strategies to improve results are increasingly necessary. Twenty-eight adult patients affected by advanced hematological neoplasias who had no other alternative treatment in order to survive took part in the study. Twenty-four of the patients were suffering from lymphoma and four from acute leukemia.

Transplant-related mortality after two years was reduced from 40-50% to 25%. The two-year global survival rate was 44% with a better result for patients with chemosensitive diseases (2-year survival rate of 75%).
On the whole, 54 CD8 depleted donor lymphocyte infusions were performed on 23 patients, using three different doses of cells with the objective of defining which dose favored an efficient reconstitution of immunity against infective agents and residual tumor cells, reducing the probability of inducing aggressive immune responses against the recipient. The infusions were well tolerated by the patients and did not reduce the transplant from taking root and did not induce acute toxicity.