“Latest Stem Cells News”

Statement by Maurizio Bolognetti, Secretary of the Associazione Radicali Lucani (Radical Association of the Lucania Area)

As recently stated, Senators Perduca and Poretti have questioned individuals about the stem cell bank in Matera. After three years, it is necessary to finally shed light on the matter, which has not been clearly explained. The many mothers who have donated umbilical cords have the right to know the truth about how and why an opportunity to potentially treat individuals was lost. EU Parliament member Marco Cappalto expressed his desire for Minister Sacconi to provide clear responses.

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The text of the questioning follows:

Questioning of the Minister for Labour Policy Maurizio Sacconi by Senators Perduca and Poretti

Considering that

On December 31 1996, with regional law number 478, the regional council in Basilicata instituted an umbilical cord stem cell bank at the Matera Hospital.

In 2004, the umbilical cord stem cell bank was transferred to the Microcythemia Center where the bank was put under the direct responsibility of Doctor Carlo Gaudiano at the Transfusion Center at “Madonna delle Grazie” Hospital in Matera.

In the summer of 2006, some donors learned about the destruction (others believe the disappearance) of umbilical cord stem cells. The matter was debated upon for months by the national and local media and in particular by the ‘Quotidiano della Basilicata’ on April 7 2006. Weekly magazine in Matera, Il Resto, Sole 24 Ore, and Corriere della Sera newspapers also covered the story. The matter came to the attention of the Public Prosecutor’s office of Catanzaro.

We hereby ask:

If and in what way the stem cells were lost;

Who exactly and which professionals in general were trained in the removal, handling, and freezing of stem cells;

What and how much equipment was acquired and what was its purpose;

The total cost of the operation after revenue earned.

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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.

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Dr. Neil Riordan presents data on human umbilical cord-derived stem cell treatments. Dr. Riordan is Founder of the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama.

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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.

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Researchers in the U.S. say they may have found a new and better source for harvesting stem cells: the placentas that are often discarded after birth.

The research from Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland found there are far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood, the traditional source for stem cells, and they can be safely extracted for transplantation.

“Yes, the stem cells are there; yes, they are viable; and yes, we can get them out,” declared Dr. Frans Kuypers, one of the scientists who led the research with fellow scientist Vladimir Serikov.
The study was conducted using placentas from healthy women undergoing elective Caesarean section. It will be the feature story in the July 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.

The scientists said it is highly likely the cells could be used in therapies to cure chronic blood-related disorders such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and leukemia.

One of the limits of umbilical cord blood is that the stem cells it contains are few in number. That makes the likelihood that they can be used to cure a blood disorder in adults fairly slim. Researchers hope that stem cells from the placenta will provide a bigger supply.

Kuypers explained that even when a patient receives a cord blood transplant, there may not be enough stem cells in the umbilical cord to successfully treat their disorder.

“The greater supply of stem cells in placentas will likely increase the chance that an HLA (human leukocyte antigen) matched unit of stem cells engrafts, making stem cell transplants available to more people. The more stem cells, the bigger the chance of success,” said Kuypers.
Kuypers and Serikov have developed a patent-pending method that will allow the freezing of placentas to store them in a way that allows them to later be defrosted and to enable the extraction of viable stem cells. The method will make it possible for companies to gather, ship and store placentas in a central location.

“We’re looking for a partnership with industry to get placenta-derived stem cells in large quantities to the clinic,” said Kuypers in a statement.
He added that while more research is needed to explore the maximum potential of this latest discovery, he is optimistic his work will lead to cures.
“Someday, we will be able to save a lot more kids and adults from these horrific blood disorders.”

from CTV

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A 300-euro bill has arrived for some couples that had stem cells taken from their child at birth three years ago. Sant’Anna has sent a bill to parents who decided to transport umbilical cord blood to Switzerland, which in Italy cannot be stored for personal use.

For the past year, the procedure is no longer free at Sant’Anna, but now the hospital is sending bills out to couples who had the procedure done in 2008 when the hospital was not yet making people pay and the operation was entirely free. Numerous couples in the past weeks have surprisingly received a bill from Sant’Anna and the complaints are rolling in, along with phone calls and e-mails, opinion columns in the newspapers and interviews on TV.

“Our first son was born in 2006,” said a couple of young parents who asked to remain anonymous. “We asked the hospital to keep the umbilical cord stem cells and send them to Switzerland where it is possible to pay for them to be stored for personal, future use. No one at Sant’Anna hospital told us that we would have had to pay for this service.”

A few weeks ago due to the upcoming birth of their second son, the couple returned to the hospital.

“We asked for the same service,” they explained, “and this time they asked us for a 300 euro payment in order to obtain the necessary certification to transport the blood to Switzerland. We accepted, despite the fact that 300 euros seemed excessive, because they only need a simple health document. We paid the bill, but recently we also received a second bill for the same amount and we discovered that the bill was for the birth of our first child 3 years ago.”

The same thing happened to about ten couples, which three years after receiving the same services from the hospital, were sent a bill by Sant’Anna Hospital. A 300-euro bill that was completely unexpected, since until the end of March 2008 the hospital had not set any price for the service.

Current laws in Italy do not allow people to store stem cells for personal use. Only free, voluntary, and anonymous donations of umbilical cord blood can be made, which are then made available to anyone who needs them, just like blood or organ donations.

“Voluntary donation is covered by the national health system,” said executives at the hospital through their press office. Donation for personal use is not covered because it is not part of the program. Orders from the healthcare ministry specify that public hospitals do not have to guarantee this service. The hospitals, like Sant’Anna, which make this service available, naturally have the right to charge patients for this service, since it is not covered by the national health system.”

At least until March 2008 there were no precise regulations on the matter.

“Regulations were set one year ago,” said heath-care officials, “and since then all of the couples are being informed that the cost of the service is 300 euros. This sum is needed in order to perform a detailed certification of the blood. This document is necessary to transport the stem cells across the border. The hospital must guarantee that the withdrawal was done in compliance with all of the regulations and that the sample is healthy, and that it has been collected and stored according to all regulations.”

However, Sant’Anna is sending out bills for children that were born before March 2008. “The couples knew that sooner or later they would receive a bill,” said hospital officials. “The sum was not established, but they were informed that this was not a free service.”

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