“Latest Stem Cells News”

It has been about 8 years since Salsabil, the first Palestinia baby suffering congenital immunodeficiency (Ada-Scid), has been healed using gene therapy. And it has been about 7 years since her story to Abdul Rahim’s one, a Pakistani baby born in the end of 2006 in Qatar.
His parents did lose 3 children because of Ada-Scid, and Abdul’s case is one of the most symbolic.
Just after his birth doctors did diagnose his illness and succeeded to healt his pneumonia during his first days of life.
So Abdul’s parents and doctors who were follow him contacted the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (Hsr-Tiget), starting files to bring him in Italy.

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Stem cells from umbilical cords are increasingly being stored in private banks for autologous use. “Newsweek” added to the debate writing about Dallas Hextell, who at the age of  8 months  was diagnosed with cerebral paralysis, a condition normally caused by serious neural damage due to oxygen deprivation in the uterus or at birth. His parents consulted various neurologists, but the possibility of a recovery was virtually non-existant.

About 9 months later, when given the opportunity to participate in a Duke University clinical study on autologous stem cell transplants (stem cells that are stored for later use by the same donor) the couple did not let the opportunity slip away. When Dallas was born, blood from his umbilical cord was removed for autologous use. His parents paid, like in Italy, to store the umbilical cord in a private bank.

A week after the transplant, Dallas suddenly started to speak, calling for his mother. Today he is 2 years old and is able to walk on his own and do the unthinkable for a child with cerebral paralysis. This story truely puts an interesting spin on the controversial topic of stem cell storage.

Limbus stem cell transplants (a layer of adult stem cells surrounding the cornea responsible for restoring corneal epithelium naturally during life) rebuild the ocular surface when damaged due to chemical and physical agents (like lime). They also repair “injuries” due to improper use of contact lenses. Vincenzo Sarnicola, a cornea and stem cell transplant expert, leading ocular surface specialist in Grosseto, Professor of Ocular Surface Surgery at the University of Siena, and President of the Italian Stem Cell and Ocular Surface Society (SICSSO) explained, “When the ocular surface loses its stem cells it is unable to defend itself and make repairs, it then loses transparency and develops soars, which become infected and result in anatomical loss. Restoring the deficient surface with limbus stem cell transplants means giving hope to these eyes and to those patients who are in serious condition often due to work related accidents.

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Italy is ranked among the top countries in Europe for the number of bone marrow transplants performed. This is one of the elements that emerged on the first day of the 3rd GITMO conference (Italian group for bone marrow transplants), which began today in Florence.

Italy plays a leading role for bone marrow transplants, said a statement, demonstrated by the fact that our country is one of the top contributors to the number of transplants performed in Europe. The European Bone Marrow Transplant Group (EMBT) collects and stores data regarding transplants performed in various countries, and Italy is ranked 3rd/4th place for the total number of transplants it performs. This is an indication of the important work performed in Italy by GITMO and demonstrates that Italian transplant centers make use of top-level expertise and technology.

This is encouraging data because it opens up possibilities for the future, with important implications for patients suffering from neoplastic diseases, for which stem cells could play a key role in future treatments.

The procedure of stem cell transplants is very invasive for the patient and not all individuals are able to adequately tolerate the procedure, especially older patients. In the past, it was not possible to perform a transplant in an individual over the age of 40, then the age was raised to 50, while today 60 could be an important objective. In the past 10 years, transplant technologies for family and non-family donors have been developed with the use of so-called reduced intensity transplants, meaning a transplant that uses technology to make the procedure tolerable for patients who are not able to undergo the traditional procedure.

Initially, this technique developed slowly, while today many transplant centers have adopted the procedure, which has substantially increased the number of people who are eligible to receive this type of treatment. For some diseases, like acute myeloid leukemia, donor stem cell transplants represent our most promising weapon, and since these diseases are most common in elderly individuals, in cases where the patient is in good condition and they are under 60 years old, it is possible to use this type of treatment.

Future prospects. Today stem cells can be obtained from various sources. While in the past family donors were used, now the use of non-family donors has become more widespread thanks to international donor banks. Furthermore, alternative sources are available, like umbilical cord stem cells, which have been collected in many EU and non-EU countries for about 15 years in special umbilical cord blood banks. They are also present in Italy and this expands the offer and possibility to quickly find a source of stem cells to be used in transplants.

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Getting information and advice in the pharmacy to collect and store umbilical cord stem cells abroad: this is the service provided by the Clic-care system, a brand managed by a company operating in the home assistance sector, and already present in pharmacies in Milan. The company recently issued a statement presenting the service. A service in which each pregnant woman, according to the company’s website www.clic-care.it, can request directly at the pharmacy to reserve a free consultation appointment for information on storing umbilical cord stem cells. Storage which, according to Italian law, can only be done in public stem cell banks for public use, not in private banks.

After a free telephone interview in which women can learn and understand the procedure to store stem cells, the company promises that it will take care of all of the paperwork required by Italian law as well as practical aspects of the process. After birth, the cells are handed over to specialized technicians in the hospital who will send them to the United Kingdom, where the cells will be deposited and stored in a private center. Periodically, the family will be informed about new goals and available cures. The president of the Italian National Federation of Pharmacy Owners (Federfarma), Anna Rosa Racca, said, “currently, Federfarma is collecting information on the initiative to assess the various aspect”.

Exporting umbilical cords abroad to be stored and collecting umbilical cord stem cells for autologous use “is possible if done according to Italian law. It is necessary to evaluate whether the other services offered by private companies in Italy respect all of the laws,” said Alessandro Nanni Costa, the director of the National Transplant Center (CNT) said regarding clic-care.

In Italy, said Nanni Costa, “collecting stem cells for autologous use and private banks to store them is not allowed. For exports abroad, we offer counseling to inform pregnant women about collection methods, storage, and use. The women must fill out a form about autologous collection on the CNT website”. Then they must obtain the necessary certification from the regional Health Department, and then must ask for authorization from the Health Ministry.

When this procedure has concluded, the umbilical cord can be sent abroad. “If all of these regulations are satisfied, along with all of the other requirements, like those for health-related advertisements, the service offered by these private companies is legal. But it is necessary to assess whether the information is correct and to understand exactly what they offer and how. If the information is not correct, then we will evaluate the timetable and methods to intervene”.

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Fiona May is going to preserve her second daughter’s umbilical cord stem cells. “When Larissa was born (her first daughter, editor’s note), in the hospital they asked me if I wanted to do this and I very happily accepted.
Now I want to do it again, and I will do it in a public hospital,” she said to Nostrofiglio.it, Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori’s website for parents, managed by Sarah Pozzoli. “In my opinion, donating is an important act,” said the ex-athlete turned actress who will give birth to her second child in June, “because I believe that it is fair and it is a duty to contribute to scientific research, for my children and for all children”.

She also spoke about racism in Italy in the interview: “Often this term is used to describe attitudes that are born out of fear, prejudice, and ignorance. We all have preconceived notions,” she underlined, “but we have to try to understand where they come from.”
“Fear about what is different from us often makes us defensive, but you can’t make indiscriminate generalizations.”
Finally, Fiona May commented on the recent reports of violence against women: “Unfortunately, women have always been victims of violence in and outside of the home. Today, perhaps women’s attitudes are changing, because now we have less tolerance for violence and are gaining the courage necessary to report these episodes.”

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