Philip Salvador, kakalabanin ang kaibigang aktor!

TO A great extent, the latest medical breakthrough called stem cell treatment has swept the nation like a typhoon entering the Philippine area of responsibility (or PAR as weather experts would say).

Previously in our column here in Pinoy Parazzi ay iniulat na namin ang lumalakas na pananampalataya in this modern science na bagamat maaaring gawin sa bansa ay mas epektibo kung sasailalim ang pasyente sa prosesong ito sa mismong bansa ang Germany na siyang pinagkukunan ng anti-aging substance extracted from a black mountain sheep.

By now, Boy Abunda must have left for Germany with his Nanay Lising whos suffering dementia (or Alzheimers disease) na karaniwan namang dumadapo sa mga taong may edad na. Also, in a week or two ay tutungo rin si Lolit Solis sa naturang bansa for treatment of her diabetes (pero sagot ni Dra. Vicki Belo ang isang milyong pisong bayad) with her ward Lorna Tolentino na siyang maglilibre naman ng kanilang week-long stay roon.

Minsan nang naipahayag ni Butch Francisco (who openly admits na wala siyang ganoong halaga after he had his condo unit in Greenhills repaired, almost reconstructed) na paano na raw ang mahihirap who cannot afford to avail of stem cell treatment?

Wala man itong relasyon sa showbiz, pero magsilbing panawagan sana ito sa Department of Science and Technology at Department of Health to conduct a thorough research on making affordable to the socially marginalized ang naturang treatment.

Stem cell treatment in Germany? Baka nga ang ilan nating mga kapus-palad na mamamayan, ang alam lang ay German cut na tule, asong German shepherd, processed meat na German sausage at ang the height, ang Master Showman na si German Moreno!

TAONG 2004 nang yakapin ni Philip Salvador ang pagiging isang born again Christian. Since then, Kuya Ipe has been shuttling between Manila and Bulacan (to as far as Bataan) kung saan ibinabahagi raw niya ang kanyang testimonya sa buhay, his past life most specially until he finally knew his Heavenly Master.

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Philip Salvador, kakalabanin ang kaibigang aktor!

Step closer to stem cell answer for human diseases

Development of stem cell research for treating human cells damaged through injury, disease or ageing has taken a step forward in Queensland.

Stem Cells Ltd, based at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at The University of Queensland, is set to receive $470,000 in Queensland Government science funding.

The funding will ensure the growth of stem cell research in Queensland, taking the state's leaders closer to developing cell-based therapies for a host of diseases.

Stem Cells Ltd Queensland manager Victoria Turner said her team would work with stem cell scientists to advance research into diseases such as schizophrenia, Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease and heart disease.

Ms Turner said Stem Cells Ltd would ensure Queensland remained at the forefront of cutting-edge stem cell research.

Stem cell research is an exciting and rapidly expanding field that is vital for basic research and understanding of diseases, she said.

Most importantly, stem cells are set to have a major impact on healthcare and innovation, offering novel scientific insights that can be used to direct the treatment of a multitude of diseases and, ultimately in the future development of cell-based therapies when cells become damaged by illness or injury.

Stem Cells Ltd is a not-for-profit company established to grow the capacity of stem cell research in Australia, providing researchers in the field with highly specialised stem cell products, services and training.

This enables scientists to access valuable stem cell strategies for modeling human diseases, which in many cases represents the only option for gaining a better understanding in order to direct treatment.

Stem Cells Ltd is also expected to break down the barriers for new stem cell scientists to enter the field, providing them with the specialist technical expertise they need for stem cell culture and keeping up with the pace of development.

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Step closer to stem cell answer for human diseases

Sixteenth Patient Dosed In Neuralstem ALS Stem Cell Trial

ROCKVILLE, Md., June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE MKT: CUR) announced that the first patient to receive stem cell transplantation in both regions of the spinal cord has been treated in the ongoing Phase I trial of its spinal cord neural stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). This is also the 16th patient to be treated in the trial altogether and the first patient returning to the trial for a second treatment. In this treatment, the patient received five injections in the cervical (upper back) region of the spinal cord, in addition to the ten he received previously in the lumbar (lower back) region of the spine, for a total of 15 injections. This is the highest number of injections in the trial so far. Patient 16 is also the first patient in the world to receive stem cell transplants in both the lumbar and cervical regions of the spinal cord in an FDA-approved trial. Two additional previously-treated patients are expected to return to the trial this summer in this cohort, provided they continue to meet the inclusion requirements. The trial is taking place at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20061221/DCTH007LOGO )

"Transplanting the first of the returning patients represents a major milestone in the trial," said Dr. Karl Johe, PhD, Neuralstem's Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer. "The ability to safely administer multiple dosings to these patients is a key enabling step in administering the maximum safe dose. Not only are we dosing patients for a second time in this cohort, we are now dosing in both the lumbar and cervical regions of the spinal cord for the first time, where the stem cell therapy could support both walking and breathing."

About the Trial

The Phase I trial to assess the safety of Neuralstem's spinal cord neural stem cells and intraspinal transplantation method in ALS patients has been underway since January 2010. The trial is designed to enroll up to 18 patients. The first 12 patients were each transplanted in the lumbar (lower back) region of the spine, beginning with non-ambulatory and advancing to ambulatory cohorts.

The trial then advanced to transplantation in the cervical (upper back) region of the spine. The first cohort of three was treated in the cervical region only. The current cohort of three will receive injections in both the cervical and lumbar regions of the spinal cord. In an amendment to the trial design, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the return of previously-treated patients to this cohort. The first of these returning patients was just treated. The entire 18-patient trial concludes six months after the final surgery.

About Neuralstem

Neuralstem's patented technology enables the ability to produce neural stem cells of the human brain and spinal cord in commercial quantities, and the ability to control the differentiation of these cells constitutively into mature, physiologically relevant human neurons and glia. Neuralstem is in an FDA-approved Phase I safety clinical trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, and has been awarded orphan status designation by the FDA.

In addition to ALS, the company is also targeting major central nervous system conditions with its cell therapy platform, including spinal cord injury, ischemic spastic paraplegia and chronic stroke. The company has submitted an IND (Investigational New Drug) application to the FDA for a Phase I safety trial in chronic spinal cord injury.

Neuralstem also has the ability to generate stable human neural stem cell lines suitable for the systematic screening of large chemical libraries. Through this proprietary screening technology, Neuralstem has discovered and patented compounds that may stimulate the brain's capacity to generate new neurons, possibly reversing the pathologies of some central nervous system conditions. The company has received approval from the FDA to conduct a Phase Ib safety trial evaluating NSI-189, its first neurogenic small molecule compound, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Additional indications could include CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and memory disorders.

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Sixteenth Patient Dosed In Neuralstem ALS Stem Cell Trial

Metformin treatment caused cancer stem cell death in pancreatic cancer cell lines

Public release date: 19-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. Results of some preclinical trials have shown that low doses of the antidiabetic drug metformin may effectively destroy cancer stem cells, a group of cells that are considered to be responsible for tumor initiation and, because they are resistant to standard chemotherapies, tumor relapse.

In addition, when metformin was combined with a standard chemotherapy used for pancreatic cancer, the combination treatment was able to efficiently eradicate both cancer stem cells and more differentiated cancer cells, which form the bulk of the tumor, according to data presented by Christopher Heeschen, M.D., Ph.D., at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, held in Lake Tahoe, Nev., from June 18-21, 2012. Heeschen is professor for experimental medicine at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid, Spain.

Most clinical trials of pancreatic cancer conducted during the last 15 years have failed to show marked improvement in median survival, suggesting that the selected approaches were not sufficient for several reasons, according to Heeschen. In recent years, researchers have identified cancer stem cells which, as opposed to the cancer cells that make up the bulk of the tumor, are a small subset of cells that are resistant to conventional therapy.

"Therefore, efficiently targeting these cells will be crucial for achieving higher cure rates in patients with pancreatic cancer," he said. "Our newly emerging data now indicate that metformin, a widely used and well-tolerated drug for the treatment of diabetes, is capable of efficiently eliminating these cells."

Specifically, the researchers found that metformin-pretreated cancer stem cells were particularly sensitive to alterations to their metabolism through the activation of AMPK. In fact, metformin treatment resulted in the death of cancer stem cells. In contrast, treatment of more differentiated cancer cells with metformin only arrested the cells' growth.

"As the cancer stem cells represent the root of pancreatic cancer, their extinction by reprogramming their metabolism with metformin in combination with the stalling of the proliferation of more differentiated cells should result in tumor regression and long-term, progression-free survival," Heeschen said.

The researchers generated data to support this idea when they treated immunocompromised mice implanted with a diverse set of patient-derived tumors with a combination of metformin and gemcitabine, the standard chemotherapeutic treatment for pancreatic cancer. They found that the treatment resulted in reduced tumor burden and the prevention of relapse as compared with treatment with either drug alone.

"Intriguingly, in all tumors treated with metformin to date, relapse of disease was efficiently prevented and there were no noticeable adverse effects," Heeschen said.

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Metformin treatment caused cancer stem cell death in pancreatic cancer cell lines