“Latest Stem Cells News”

“For centuries, scientists have known that certain animals can regenerate missing parts of their bodies. Humans actually share this ability with animals like the starfish and the newt. Although we can’t replace a missing leg or a finger, our bodies are constantly regenerating blood, skin, and other tissues.

The identity of the powerful cells that allow us to regenerate some tissues was first revealed when experiments with bone marrow in the 1950s established the existence of stem cells in our bodies and led to the development of bone marrow transplantation, a therapy now widely used in medicine.

This discovery raised hope in the medical potential of regeneration. For the first time in history, it became possible for physicians to regenerate a damaged tissue with a new supply of healthy cells by drawing on the unique ability of stem cells to create many of the body’s specialized cell types (…)”

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On any given day, an estimated 6000 Americans who need a bone marrow transplant are searching the country’s donor banks hoping to find the right match.
For many of those patients, especially minorities, the odds of finding an outside donor have been pretty low. But, that is starting to change. There is new research that suggests the donor pool may be widening.

Just shy of his second birthday, little Elmor Bonilla has overcome obstacles and odds most people don’t face over a lifetime.
Elmor was born with Krabbe disease; a rare and often fatal disorder that attacks the central nervous system.
His best shot at survival is a bone marrow transplant immediately.

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A team of doctors of haematology department of Nilratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital performed a blood stem cell transplantation on a patient wherein they successfully re-infused blood stem cells into a patient’s bloodstream on 30 January. The patient is suffering from a type of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma.
Mrs Bela Samanta, a resident of Burdwan, has been a patient of leukaemia for past one year. On 16 December she was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. Doctors examined her and said there was a need for this transplantation, if the patient wanted to lead a stable life at least for the next five to seven years.

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An extraordinary operation was performed in Pisa when a 5 year old boy from Tuscany with acute lymphoblastic leukemia underwent a bone marrow transplant last night with stem cells explanted from a patient in Japan where the only donor with virological and histological compatibility was found after a 6-7 month worldwide search. The stem cell infusion was performed at the Pediatric Oncohematology Unit at the University of Pisa Hospital directed by Claudio Favre, one of the seven internationally accredited centers collaborating with the national Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (IBMDR).

The infusion procedure, reported the hospital in Pisa, lasted about 7 hours and the child is well. Doctors hope that intensive chemotherapy along with total body irradiation last week and the newly implanted stem cells will repopulate the boy’s bone marrow and allow him to fight the disease.

The hospital underlined that what took place between Italy and Japan was a true marathon of solidarity including, in addition to both hospitals and medical teams in both Pisa and Tenri (Southeast Japan), the Italian Civil Protection Service, which provided the airplane that flew from Osaka to Pisa allowing the stem cells to be transported by the only compatible donor found out of 12 million in the entire world.

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The past few years brought high development in obtaining and culturing autologous adult stem cells. In this paper we review publications of experimental investigations and clinical trials of the muscle-derived cells and the application in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence among women. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be obtained from bone marrow but it is associated with a painful biopsy procedure.

Collection of muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) is less harmful because the skeletal muscle biopsy is performed with a small caliber needle in local anesthesia. The stem-based therapy could be the next step in the treatment of urinary incontinence. There are still many elements of therapy such as effectiveness or long-term side effects which need to be researched.

Department of Gynecology and Oncology, Collegium Medium Jagiellonian University of Kraków
Dr Klaudia STANGEL-WÓJCIKIEWICZ

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The Pisa University Hospital has become part of the international network of hematopoietic stem cell transplant facilities (meaning they produce various blood components). The hospital was recently accredited by the Italian registry of bone marrow donors, which is part of the international network.

Pisa has become an important center for bone marrow collection for all potential donors in northwestern Italy.
On 20 April 2009, the first donation was carried out for a patient at the Udine University Hospital, and a second donation is being organized for a patient being treated at the Montpellier Hospital (France).

The hospital in Pisa received the prestigious recognition thanks to the positive results they have obtained over the past years in the hematology and oncology- hematology units.

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