“Latest Stem Cells News”

Surgeons in Sweden have replaced the cancerous windpipe of a Maryland man with one made in a laboratory and seeded with the man’s cells.

The windpipe, or trachea, made from minuscule plastic fibers and covered in stem cells taken from the man’s bone marrow, was implanted in November.

The patient, Christopher Lyles, 30, whose tracheal cancer had progressed to the point where it was considered inoperable, arrived home in Baltimore on Wednesday. It was the second procedure of its kind and the first for an American.

“I’m feeling good,” Lyles said in a telephone interview. “I’m just thankful for a second chance at life.” He said he hoped to resume his job, as an electrical engineer as soon as he regained full strength.

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Ciaran Finn-Lynch, who became the first child in the world to undergo a groundbreaking trachea transplant in March this year, is set to return home to Northern Ireland.

Ciaran underwent the transplant, which involved the removal of his own trachea replaced by a donor windpipe, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Doctors then used Ciaran’s own stem cells from inside his body to build up the donor windpipe and ensure the organ was not rejected.

Four weeks ago, doctors were able to describe the transplant as a success for the first time after proving vascular supply had returned to the trachea.

Colleen and Paul, Ciaran’s parents, said: “We cannot thank all the staff involved in Ciaran’s transplant enough. When they initially suggested the procedure we agreed to it, knowing it would be the first time it had been tried in a child, as we have 100 per cent faith in them and the work they do. They were the best people in the world to treat our son.

“Ciaran has undergone some major operations in his life, even prior to this transplant in March. He is resilient and has kept his spirits up throughout. Two weeks ago he had a music lesson while he was on the intensive care unit, he played on the drums and he absolutely loved it. Ciaran’s spirit has never waned.

“We are obviously also incredibly grateful and indebted to Ciaran’s donor and are aware of the heartbreak that family went through in losing someone. They have displayed courage and selflessness and we would like to use this opportunity to urge people to think about signing up to the organ donor register.”

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Pier Paolo Parnigotto with Mariateresa Conconi

After a trachea transplant that was not rejected, performed in Barcelona by Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, soon other organs and biotech tissues will be reconstructed in the lab thanks to a technique developed by the University of Padova. Bones, livers, the esophagus, pancreases, and muscles will be next, in research that will possibly take place in the Veneto. According to Pierpaolo Parnigotto, 61 year old professor of anatomy, who together with Maria Teresa Conconi carried out tissue engineering research for 15 years in the development of biotech organ grafts that will not be rejected in the recipient: “Our technique consists of removing an organ from a cadaver, and removing residual cells and DNA, leaving only a framework that resembles a white sponge.

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