Stem cell harvesting methods used by Sydney doctor Ralph …

Updated September 16, 2014 22:58:04

Serious questions have been raised about a stem cell doctor working in Western Sydney who charges $9,000 per procedure and uses methods that are untested by clinical trials.

An investigation by the ABC's 7.30 program has revealed that Dr Ralph Bright bought his liposuction-based technology from an American company.

The US company is now the subject of a multi-million dollar fraud action, which has revealed the cells being marketed as live were in fact dead.

Dr Bright, of Macquarie Stem Cells, is a former GP and self-taught cosmetic surgeon.

He has been working with stem cells for four years, treating more than 400 patients, including the late model Charlotte Dawson, cricketer Geoff Lawson and Olympic volleyballer Kerri Pottharst.

Dr Bright has licensed his methods to other practitioners around the country and because they use the patients' own cells he is not regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

When I say [stem cell therapy is] experimental, I mean we don't understand whether it is safe or effective in humans.

Stem cell science professor Martin Pera

Stem cells are often hailed as a miracle cure, but the nation's top stem cell scientists are warning that buyers should beware of these sorts of procedures, which are yet to be subjected to clinical trials.

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Stem cell harvesting methods used by Sydney doctor Ralph ...

21 infused with new UM stem cell

Written by Lidia Dinkova on September 17, 2014

A partnership between University of Miami researchers and a Georgia-based biomedical company this month made a new type of stem cell commercially available for bone regeneration and healing.

The marrow-isolated adult multi-lineage inducible cell, known as the MIAMI cell, is the result of 15 years of research by the University of Miami.

Since the stem cell was made commercially available, about 21 patients have been treated with a MIAMI cell infusion.

We are controlling the release to make sure it goes very smoothly, said Tracy S. Anderson, president and CEO of Vivex Biomedical Inc.

Vivex invested in the research and development of the cell and licensed the technology from UM for orthopedic use. The company has contracted with the universitys tissue bank to develop the cell for commercial use and pays an undisclosed royalty back to UM from sales.

Before the MIAMI cell goes to full national release in January 2015, Vivex is controlling the use of the cell.

I am going very slowly and selectively with the surgeons we are working with, Mr. Anderson said. Anytime you have a new product like this, you have to make sure that it goes smoothly.

Mr. Anderson didnt want to disclose revenue generated from the sale of the MIAMI cell, only saying that it has been significant.

So far, the MIAMI cell has been used in bone regeneration and healing in Utah, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio.

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21 infused with new UM stem cell

Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds blood cord donor

A Quebec womans desperate, months-long search for a compatible stem cell or umbilical cord match is over.

Mai Duong, a 34-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian battling acute leukemia, announced Tuesday that she has finally found a match.

"I'm going to have the transplant and hopefully everything will go well and hopefully I'll have a new marrow," Duong tearfully told reporters Tuesday. "I just hope I'm going to beat cancer once and for all."

"A woman gave birth to her child and has donated her baby's umbilical cord to save another life," reads a post on the Save Mai Duong Facebook page. "Thank you dear mommy, we cannot fathom the importance of your gesture. I am very moved."

Duong beat cancer last year, after chemotherapy that she had to terminate a 15-week pregnancy to undergo.

She was in remission until May, when blood tests revealed the leukemia had returned.

"Seventy per cent of people who had that type of leukemia were just cured with chemotherapy and unfortunately I'm in the 30 per cent," she said at the time.

Doctors said Duong would need a bone marrow transplant or cord blood stem cells and she needed it fast. Despite being on the international list, doctors struggled to find a match.

Duong said, for people who aren't Caucasian, finding the right donor can be like searching for a needle-in-a-haystack.

"Less than one per cent of the 25 million donors worldwide are Vietnamese," she wrote on her website. "All ethnic communities are severely under-represented in the world donor bank, making finding a compatible donor very difficult for me and countless others who are currently waiting for a transplant."

Excerpt from:
Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds blood cord donor

Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds cord blood donor

A Quebec womans desperate, months-long search for a compatible stem cell or umbilical cord match is over.

Mai Duong, a 34-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian battling acute leukemia, announced Tuesday that she has finally found a match.

"I'm going to have the transplant and hopefully everything will go well and hopefully I'll have a new marrow," Duong tearfully told reporters Tuesday. "I just hope I'm going to beat cancer once and for all."

"A woman gave birth to her child and has donated her baby's umbilical cord to save another life," reads a post on the Save Mai Duong Facebook page. "Thank you dear mommy, we cannot fathom the importance of your gesture. I am very moved."

Duong beat cancer last year, after chemotherapy that she had to terminate a 15-week pregnancy to undergo.

She was in remission until May, when blood tests revealed the leukemia had returned.

"Seventy per cent of people who had that type of leukemia were just cured with chemotherapy and unfortunately I'm in the 30 per cent," she said at the time.

Doctors said Duong would need a bone marrow transplant or cord blood stem cells and she needed it fast. Despite being on the international list, doctors struggled to find a match.

Duong said, for people who aren't Caucasian, finding the right donor can be like searching for a needle-in-a-haystack.

"Less than one per cent of the 25 million donors worldwide are Vietnamese," she wrote on her website. "All ethnic communities are severely under-represented in the world donor bank, making finding a compatible donor very difficult for me and countless others who are currently waiting for a transplant."

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Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds cord blood donor

Cord blood donor found for Quebec woman battling leukemia for second time

MONTREALDoctors say they have found an umbilical cord for a Quebec woman who is battling leukemia for a second time.

Mai Duong recently made a desperate online plea for a compatible stem cell donor.

Duong and doctors told a news conference in Montreal on Tuesday the umbilical cord came from a woman who gave birth and decided to donate it.

A donor was found after a global search was undertaken to find either a bone marrow or cord blood stem for a transplant.

A tearful Duong said she will now spend the next six to eight weeks in treatment.

But the 34-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian, who has a 4-year-old daughter, adds she still has to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment before the transplant.

Duong successfully fought off acute leukemia in 2013 with chemotherapy. She had to terminate a 15-week pregnancy to undergo the treatment.

Duong was in remission until a blood test revealed leukemia had returned this past May. Finding the right person was a challenge especially for those who are from a non-Caucasian background.

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Cord blood donor found for Quebec woman battling leukemia for second time

Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds stem cell donor

A Quebec womans desperate, months-long search for a compatible stem cell or umbilical cord match is over.

Mai Duong, a 34-year-old Vietnamese-Canadian battling acute leukemia, announced Tuesday that she has finally found a match.

"I'm going to have the transplant and hopefully everything will go well and hopefully I'll have a new marrow," Duong tearfully told reporters Tuesday. "I just hope I'm going to beat cancer once and for all."

"A woman gave birth to her child and has donated her baby's umbilical cord to save another life," reads a post on the Save Mai Duong Facebook page. "Thank you dear mommy, we cannot fathom the importance of your gesture. I am very moved."

Duong beat cancer last year, after chemotherapy that she had to terminate a 15-week pregnancy to undergo.

She was in remission until May, when blood tests revealed the leukemia had returned.

"Seventy per cent of people who had that type of leukemia were just cured with chemotherapy and unfortunately I'm in the 30 per cent," she said at the time.

Doctors said Duong would need a bone marrow transplant or cord blood stem cells and she needed it fast. Despite being on the international list, doctors struggled to find a match.

Duong said, for people who aren't Caucasian, finding the right donor can be like searching for a needle-in-a-haystack.

"Less than one per cent of the 25 million donors worldwide are Vietnamese," she wrote on her website. "All ethnic communities are severely under-represented in the world donor bank, making finding a compatible donor very difficult for me and countless others who are currently waiting for a transplant."

Excerpt from:
Quebec leukemia patient Mai Duong finds stem cell donor

Watch brave cancer battler Ulrika Dandekar make a desperate appeal for a stem cell donor

Watch Ulrika's appeal. Can you help, before it is too late?

Time is running out for brave Ulrika Dandekar who is desperately in need of a stem cell transplant after being diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer.

For Ulrika, aged 21, from Solihull, has been readmitted to hospital after discovering more than 15 cancerous lumps on her body.

She has undergone another round of chemotherapy in the hope of combating the cancer, called Anaplastic Lymphoma, at Heartlands Hospital, and will have to wait at least two weeks before she will find out if its worked.

VIEW GALLERY

Previous treatment had seen a reduction in the size of another cancerous growth

But during a holiday to Turkey in August, Ulrika, known as Riya, noticed that a small lump on the side of her body, which was thought to be an insect bite, had grown.

She explained: I had been given the okay to go on holiday to Turkey with my mum, but just before going away, I noticed a small lump which looked just like an insect bite.

The doctors thought it was nothing to worry about but I was given antibiotics. However, when we got abroad it just kept changing and growing every day.

My mum kept taking pictures of it and emailing them back to our doctor to keep him up-to-date with what was happening, although coming back early would not have made a difference.

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Watch brave cancer battler Ulrika Dandekar make a desperate appeal for a stem cell donor

Japan carries out first iPS stem cell retina surgery

TOKYO: Japanese researchers on Friday (Sep 12) conducted the world's first surgery to implant "iPS" stem cells in a human body in a major boost to regenerative medicine, two institutions involved said.

A female patient in her 70s with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that can lead to blindness in older people, had a sheet of retina cells that had been created from iPS cells implanted. "It is the first time in the world that iPS cells have been transplanted into a human body," a spokeswoman for Riken, one of the research institutions, told AFP.

The research team used induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells - which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body - that had originally come from the skin of the patient. Until the discovery of iPS several years ago, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from human embryos.

"We feel very much relieved," ophthalmologist Masayo Takahashi, the leader of the project at Riken, told a news conference after the surgery in Kobe. "We want to take it as a big step forward. But we must go on and on from here."

In a statement, the institution said that "no serious adverse phenomena such as excessive bleeding occurred" during the two-hour procedure. The surgery is still at an experimental stage, but if it is successful, doctors hope it will stop the deterioration in vision that comes with AMD.

The patient - one of six expected to take part in the trial - will be monitored over the next four years to determine how well the implants have performed, whether the body has accepted them and if they have become cancerous.

AMD, a condition that is incurable at present, affects mostly middle-aged and older people and can lead to blindness. It afflicts around 700,000 people in Japan alone.

The study was being carried out by researchers from government-backed research institution Riken and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital.

Stem cell research is a pioneering field that has excited many in the scientific community with the potential they believe it offers. Stem cells are infant cells that can develop into any part of the body. Harvesting from human embryos is controversial because it requires the destruction of the embryo, a process to which religious conservatives, among others, object.

Groundbreaking work done in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, a Nobel Laureate in medicine last year, succeeded in generating stem cells from adult skin tissue.

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Japan carries out first iPS stem cell retina surgery

First iPS stem cell retina surgery gives hope for AMD patients

TOKYO - Japanese researchers Friday conducted the world's first surgery with "iPS" stem cells on serious eye disease Friday, possibly paving the way for treatment of a common cause of blindness, two institutions involved said.

A female patient with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that can lead to blindness in older people, had a sheet of retina cells that had been created from iPS cells implanted.

The research team used induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells -- which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body -- that had originally come from the skin of the patient, the institutions said in a statement.

Until the discovery of iPS several years ago, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from human embryos.

The surgery is still at an experimental stage, but if it is successful, doctors hope it will stop the deterioration in vision that comes with AMD.

The patient -- one of six expected to take part in the trial -- will be monitored over the next four years to determine how well the implants have performed, whether the body has accepted them and if they have become cancerous.

AMD, a condition that is incurable at present, affects mostly middle-aged and older people and can lead to blindness. It afflicts around 700,000 people in Japan alone.

The study was being carried out by researchers from government-backed research institution Riken and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital.

Stem cell research is a pioneering field that has excited many in the scientific community with the potential they believe it offers.

Stem cells are infant cells that can develop into any part of the body.

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First iPS stem cell retina surgery gives hope for AMD patients

Canadian doctors use stem cells to treat 'stiff person syndrome'

Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, August 26, 2014 6:45AM EDT

TORONTO -- Canadian doctors have begun using stem cell transplants to treat "stiff person syndrome," a rare neurological condition in which a patient's leg and other muscles suddenly contract painfully, often leaving them immobilized like a tin soldier.

The disorder, which affects an estimated one in a million people, occurs when the immune system turns against a person's own tissues, in this case attacking cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Stem cell transplants have been used to treat patients with other auto-immune diseases, among them multiple sclerosis, scleroderma and Crohn's disease, but this may be the first time the procedure has been employed to alleviate the symptoms of stiff person syndrome, or SPS, the researchers reported Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology.

SPS is characterized by episodes of stiffness in the muscles and painful muscle spasms, which can be brought on by stress, loud noises or emotional distress. Some people with the disorder are so disabled they are unable to walk or move and may isolate themselves at home to avoid triggering an attack.

"Sometimes this happens when they're startled," said Dr. Harry Atkins of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at the Ottawa Hospital, who headed a team that transplanted stem cells into two women with the disease.

"So you can imagine walking across the street and someone honks the horn and you can't move, or you start falling and because your muscles can't move, you just fall and you hurt yourself," Atkins said Monday from Ottawa.

"It really does provide a barrier with just going on with your life."

Tina Ceroni of Toronto is one of the two SPS patients who had the stem-cell transplant -- and she said it has given back her life.

The personal fitness trainer, now 36, started getting severe symptoms in her late 20s. Initially she was diagnosed with hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, thought to be related to her heavy training schedule for a half-ironman competition.

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Canadian doctors use stem cells to treat 'stiff person syndrome'