Will you consider stem cell therapy for your child with autism?

There is no doubt that parents of persons with autism will exhaust all possible means to look for ways to improve the lives of their children. Some will even look for the ''cure'' at all costs literally, especially if they can afford it.

The buzz word for possible autism cure these last few years is stem cell therapy, a medical intervention that involves extracting the body's repair cells and injecting them back to the body to replace old cells. The controversies about this therapy as autism ''cure'' include its high cost.

Angels Talk recently asked parent members of Autism Society Philippines the following question: If money was not an issue, will you consider stem cell therapy for your child with autism? Some were willing to take the chance while others were either cautious of trying ''cures'' that still need to be validated, or consider their children's autism as a gift. Here are some of their sentiments.

''Yes, I would. Whatever will help my nine-year old Sean, I will take the chance. I accept Sean and his condition but not everyone is accepting of autism. If stem cell therapy will give Sean a chance to enjoy life like an average kid, then I will pursue this.'' - JASMINE NADJA PINUGU, a parent who represents the views of 22 other respondents

''No. I would not subject my child to a treatment that has questionable therapeutic claims and safety issues. What we read in the news now are anecdotal reports from celebrity parents that include endorsement of a certain clinic or doctor. Our son Jorel, is doing well trying to adapt in the ''normal'' world. We would rather spend the money for his job or independent living training later on.'' - MENCHIE ALEGRE

''Not at this time but I am open to the possibility. I attended Dr. Samuel Bernal's talk on this topic at Medical City early this year and even this expert is not making claims that stem cell can ''cure'' autism. They are still doing further studies. I have also not heard about the results on the six children who've undergone the test for it. The procedure is quite scary and there will surely be side effects. Until such time that the procedure becomes less invasive, I will not agree to have this procedure done to my child. I appreciate though the efforts of all the people trying to find solution to improve the lives of our children. I pray that God may guide them well.'' - OLIVE MEDINA

''NO! I love him for what he is and he was born unique. Autism is not an illness; all special children need love, support and understanding from family, friends and especially our society. Special children are God's gift to society, to help us be humble, happy and content of what we have.'' - BERNADETTE TABARES

''No, I have two autistic sons and I have learned to respect their condition as God allowed it. I asked God for wisdom in rearing them and I enjoy their company. They showered me with so much attention and love. After 20 years of searching for solution for my two boys to act normal and be able to conform to the norms of society, I have witnessed that each one of us also have abnormalities. Being with them at all given time is the best treatment. Integrating them in all house activities boost their self-esteem.''- LOURY JACOB

''Autism is not the problem. Only ACCCEPTANCE can CURE AUTISM.'' - WHENG DOLLENTE

''What is the point of compelling your child to be someone he is not?'' - GERARD ATIENZA

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Will you consider stem cell therapy for your child with autism?

Novartis announces an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration with Regenerex, leveraging a novel cell …

Novartis International AG / Novartis announces an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration with Regenerex, leveraging a novel cell platform to broaden presence in the cell therapy space . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Basel, September 6, 2013 - Novartis today announced that it has entered into an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration agreement with Regenerex LLC, a biopharmaceutical company based in Louisville, Kentucky, for use of the company's novel Facilitating Cell Therapy (FCRx) platform. The hematopoietic stem cell-based FCRx platform has been investigated in kidney transplantation to induce stable immunological tolerance, resulting in graft survival without the need for lifelong immunosuppression. This collaboration reaffirms the Novartis commitment to transplant. Beyond transplant, Regenerex's novel platform potentially has curative potential for multiple underserved diseases and will be investigated in the rescue of serious genetic deficiencies such as inherited metabolic storage disorders and hemoglobinopathies.

"As the field of biomedicine sits on the cusp of a new transformation, we are excited to announce this agreement which supports the Novartis leadership position in cell therapy," said Dr. Timothy Wright, Global Head Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Thirty years ago, Novartis developed ciclosporin, which changed transplantation treatment paradigms and enabled countless lives to be saved. Now, this collaboration, along with our internal cell therapy assets, has the potential to transform medicine once again through innovation."

FCRx will broaden the current Novartis cell therapy portfolio, which includes two novel cell therapy platforms initially being investigated in hematological malignancies. HSC835 is a novel cell therapy approach that enables an expanded single umbilical cord blood derived hematopoietic stem cell transplant in patients with limited treatment options. HSC835 is currently in a Phase II trial in patients with high-risk hematological malignancies. A second cell therapy product, CTL019 is a chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy currently in Phase II development in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

About FCRx FCRx is a novel allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell based therapy platform that also contains facilitating cells derived from a donor. The platform supports the development of tolerance, or "bone marrow chimerism," in transplant recipients, providing a better side effect profile than current human hematopoietic stem cell transplantation protocols. Chimerism may eventually render the recipient tolerant to cell, tissue or organ transplants from the same donor, thereby enabling transplant patients to discontinue immunosuppressive medications after building stable immunological tolerance. Results from a Phase II study in 15 kidney transplant recipients are extremely encouraging with six patients fully withdrawn from immunosuppression without loss of engraftment, and a further two with planned full withdrawal at 1 year[1]. Currently, solid organ transplant recipients must take immunosuppressive drugs for life to prevent rejection. This approach may also allow for treatment of inherited metabolic diseases like metachromatic leukodystrophy or sickle cell disease.

Disclaimer The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "goal," "potential," "commitment," "potentially," "will," "on the cusp," "being investigated," "may," "eventually," "encouraging," "planned," or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential approvals for the FCRx platform, HSC835 or CTL019, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that the FCRx platform, HSC835 or CTL019 will be approved for use or sale in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, unexpected clinical trial results, including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected additional analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; unexpected manufacturing issues; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Novartis Group's assets and liabilities as recorded in the Group's consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of USD 56.7 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.3 billion (USD 9.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 131,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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New Way to Track Stem Cell Migration Could Advance Treatments for Brain Tumors and More

Durham, NC (PRWEB) September 06, 2013

A new study in the current issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine shows how a team of scientists led by Rex Moats, Ph.D., and Karen Aboody, M.D., discovered a safe, effective way to track the migration and distribution of neural stem cells used in treating invasive brain tumors. Their method, which involves pre-loading the cells before transplantation with ultra-small, super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles that can then be detected via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been approved for clinical trials in humans and has the potential to greatly accelerate the search for new treatments for deadly brain tumors and other diseases.

Numerous stem cell-based therapies are currently under investigation, including an FDA-approved clinical trial focused on employing neural stem cells (NSCs) in delivering drugs targeting invasive brain tumors. The ability to monitor the time course, migration and distribution of stem cells following transplantation into these patients would provide critical information for optimizing treatment regimens, Dr. Moats said. However, no effective cell-tracking methodology had yet garnered clinical acceptance.

A labeling and imaging protocol using clinical grade ferumoxytol an iron replacement product currently approved to treat iron deficiency anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease has shown promise in some studies as a possible tracking agent. The Moats-Aboody team, in conjunction with Dr. Joseph A. Frank, a co-investigator at NIH, had previously demonstrated that the combination of ferumoxides with protamine sulfate showed promise in labeling the NSCs for this purpose.

In this most recent study, they wanted to build upon their work by testing how adding heparin to the ferumoxytol and protamine sulfate mix (a combination called HPF) might affect the NSC labeling.

The results showed great promise in the lab. Additionally, Dr. Aboody said, when we tested it on mice with brain tumors we were able to track the NSC distribution using an MRI at multiple time-points following intracerebral or intravenous injection. The mice demonstrated no significant clinical or behavioral changes, no neuronal or systemic toxicities and no abnormal accumulation of iron in the liver or spleen.

Overall, we propose that ferumoxytol-labeling is an effective cell-tracking method that is safe for clinical use, contributing little to the risk side of a given risk/benefit analysis, Dr. Moats concluded.

Dr. Moats is a member of the Department of Radiology at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and University of Southern Californians Keck School of Medicine while Dr. Aboody is with the Department of Neurosciences at City of Hope National Medical Center & Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, Calif. The investigative team also included researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Chicago and the University of British Columbia.

An important aspect of advancing neural stem cells as a treatment for brain tumors is being able to track the cells ability to adequately target and distribute throughout the tumor sites, said Anthony Atala, M.D., editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The current study is important because it identifies an effective cell-tracking method that appears safe for clinical use.

The full article, MRI Tracking of Ferumoxytol-labeled Human Neural Stem Cells: Studies Leading to Clinical Use, can be accessed at http://www.stemcellstm.com.

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New Way to Track Stem Cell Migration Could Advance Treatments for Brain Tumors and More

An end to the stem cell ‘hammer’ and ‘nail’

Medical Files By Rafael Castillo M.D. Philippine Daily Inquirer

(Conclusion)

A saying goesif youre a hammer, you see everything as a nail.

This may symbolize whats happening to our practice of stem cell medicine in our country. Because of the media hype focusing on testimonials of celebrities on supposed spectacular healing or rejuvenation, stem cell practitioners coming from various medical practices have suddenly become overenthusiastic of the things stem cells could do for their patients. In every Tom, Dick and Harry, one or another indication for stem cell therapy can be seen at the end of a 5-minute consultation. It has been estimated that nine out of 10 Filipino patients administered stem cell treatment receive it for unproven and still experimental indications.

A neurosurgeon colleague asked the young doctor-son of a patient (who appeared to be fresh out of medical school) what his line of practice was, and he confidently replied that he administers stem cell medicine. When told that it seems to be a pretty complicated specialty, he answered without batting an eyelash that its not.

All of a sudden, a few hundred physicians from several specialtiesinternists, oncologists, surgeons, neurologists, dermatologists, OB-gynecologists, family medicine and practically all othershave seemingly converged to make stem cell medicine their specialty or subspecialty. I know that the doctors mean well. Most of them (including those who sent me angry SMS or e-mail messages after reading the first part of this column last week) sincerely believe they could offer something short of miraculous healing for their patients.

Not hammers at all

I dont doubt their well-meaning intentions but they just have to stop acting like a hammer, finding everything like a nailjudging practically everyone who comes to them as a potential stem cell treatment candidate. In fact, many colleagues who practice stem cell medicine should realize theyre not hammers at all. They should be honest enough to admit that they do not possess the competence to administer such a complicated therapy to their patients.

Being interested in stem cell medicine and considering oneself as an eager student wanting to learn more about this promising experimental form of treatment is good. But thinking that one can be good enough to administer it to patients after observing how others do it several times is definitely betraying ones sworn duty as a physicianto make patients well and not to administer anything that can potentially cause him or her more harm than good.

When I was a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas, every morning I would be reminded by the sculpted Latin phrase on the faade of the Medicine Building which said, Primum non nocere (First, do no harm). This is one of the principal precepts of medical ethics that all medical practitioners pledge to adhere to.

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An end to the stem cell ‘hammer’ and ‘nail’

Stem Cell Therapeutics Announces Participation at the 15th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference in New …

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 6, 2013) - Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SSS)(SCTPF), a biopharmaceutical company developing cancer stem cell-related therapeutics, today announced it will be featured as a presenting company at the 15th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, sponsored by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC. The conference is being held September 8-10, 2013, at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City. Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, the CEO of Stem Cell Therapeutics, will provide an overview of the Company's business during the live presentation and will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the conference.

About Stem Cell Therapeutics:

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. (SCT) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing cancer stem cell discoveries into novel and innovative cancer therapies. Building on over half a century of leading and groundbreaking Canadian stem cell research, the company is supported by established links to a group of Toronto academic research institutes and cancer treatment centers, representing one of the world's most acclaimed cancer research hubs. The Company has two premier preclinical programs, SIRPaFc and a CD200 monoclonal antibody (mAb), which target two key immunoregulatory pathways that tumor cells exploit to evade the host immune system. SIRPaFc is an antibody-like fusion protein that blocks the activity of CD47, a molecule that is upregulated on cancer stem cells in AML and several other tumors. The CD200 mAb is a fully human monoclonal antibody that blocks the activity of CD200, an immunosuppressive molecule that is overexpressed by many hematopoietic and solid tumors. SCT's clinical stage programs include the recently in-licensed program focused on the structure of tigecycline, which is currently being evaluated in a multi-centre Phase I study in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as TTI-1612, a non-cancer stem cell asset that recently completed a 28-patient Phase I trial in interstitial cystitis ("IC") patients. For more information, visit: http://www.stemcellthera.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect SCT's current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include changing market conditions; the successful and timely completion of pre-clinical and clinical studies; the establishment of corporate alliances; the impact of competitive products and pricing; new product development risks; uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process or the ability to obtain drug product in sufficient quantity or at standards acceptable to health regulatory authorities to complete clinical trials or to meet commercial demand; and other risks detailed from time to time in SCT's ongoing quarterly and annual reporting. Except as required by applicable securities laws, SCT undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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Stem Cell Therapeutics Announces Participation at the 15th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference in New ...

Stem-cell therapy 'can be lethal'

People considering stem-cell treatment have been advised to think again, with six groups of medical specialists issuing a strong warning yesterday that unlicensed stem-cell treatments on offer could kill a patient.

The medical societies that issued the statement include the Royal College of Physicians, the Dermatological Society, Heart Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King, the Thai Society of Haematology, the Nephrology Society and the Neurology Society.

The statement said the Medical Council of Thailand had only approved the use of stem-cell treatment on blood diseases - namely leukaemia, malignant lymphoma, aplastic anaemia, multiple myeloma and thalassemia.

Clinical research on the use of stem-cell treatment is ongoing, but there is no scientific evidence that stem-cell therapy can effectively increasing a person's longevity, or delay organ degeneration or improve a patient's quality of life, Prof Kriang Tungsanga, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said.

The move by the medical societies was prompted by widespread ads about stem-cell-based "miracle pills" that claim to ease the symptoms of chronic symptoms such as diabetes and heart disease.

The unlicensed use of stem-cell therapy to treat heart disease, diabetes or for aesthetic purposes has become popular among celebrities and rich people who can afford the treatment, which can cost anything from Bt100,000 to Bt1 million.

Some patients even fly to private clinics in Germany to receive stem-cell injections extracted from unborn sheep that they believe will improve their health and make them look younger.

However, Kriang reiterated that stem-cell therapy is not recommended or included in the standard clinical practice guidelines of any disease other than some blood conditions.

Wrong usage 'can hurt'

Moreover, inappropriate use of stem-cell therapy may be harmful to patients as they could develop an allergy, clotting in blood vessels, contamination of the blood stream, foreign protein materials, chemicals microbial organisms and other non-pure types of cells and cancer transforming cells.

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Stem-cell therapy 'can be lethal'