Chicago woman cured of sickle cell disease

ScienceDaily (June 18, 2012) Chicagoan Ieshea Thomas is the first Midwest patient to receive a successful stem cell transplant to cure her sickle cell disease without chemotherapy in preparation for the transplant.

University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System physicians performed the procedure using medication to suppress her immune system and one small dose of total body radiation right before the transplant.

The transplant technique is relatively uncommon and is a much more tolerable treatment for patients with aggressive sickle cell disease who often have underlying organ disease and other complications, says Dr. Damiano Rondelli, professor of medicine at UIC, who performed Thomas's transplant.

The procedure initially allows a patient's own bone marrow to coexist with that of the donor. Since the patient's bone marrow is not completely destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation prior to transplant, part of the immune defense survives, lessening the risk of infection. The goal is for the transplanted stem cells to gradually take over the bone marrow's role to produce red blood cells -- normal, healthy ones.

Thomas, 33, had her first sickle cell crisis when she was just 8 months old. Her disease became progressively worse as an adult, particularly after the birth of her daughter. She has spent most of her adult life in and out of hospitals with severe pain and has relied on repeated red blood cell transfusions. Her sickle cell disease also caused bone damage requiring two hip replacements.

"I just want to be at home with my daughter every day and every night," said Thomas, who depends on family to help care for her daughter during her frequent hospitalizations.

This type of stem cell transplant is only possible for patients who have a healthy sibling who is a compatible donor.

Thomas' sister was a match and agreed to donate blood stem cells through a process called leukapheresis. Several days prior to leukapheresis, Thomas' sister was given drugs to increase the number of stem cells released into the bloodstream. Her blood was then processed through a machine that collects white cells, including stem cells. The stem cells were frozen until the transplant.

Last Nov. 23, four bags of frozen stem cells were delivered to the hospital's blood and marrow transplant unit. One by one, the bags were thawed and hung on an IV pole for infusion into Thomas. The procedure took approximately one hour. Her 13-year-old daughter, Miayatha, was at her bedside.

Six months after the transplant, Thomas is cured of sickle cell disease and no longer requires blood transfusions.

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Chicago woman cured of sickle cell disease

Royal Oak Veterinarian Dr. Simon First in Michigan to Offer In-House Adult Pet Stem Cell Therapy

ROYAL OAK, Mich., June 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Woodside Animal Hospital announced they have added both stem cell therapy and cold laser therapy to their suite of services. These two cutting edge treatments are done entirely in-house, no third-party lab work is required. Royal Oak veterinarian Dr. John Simon is the first Michigan veterinarian to provide pets with in-house adult stem cell therapy. The stem cells are derived from the pet's fat deposits and absolutely no embryonic tissue is used.

"As a holistic veterinarian, I am committed to providing high quality, cutting-edge care that combines traditional veterinary care with advanced holistic treatments," said Dr. Simon. "Our in-house stem cell therapy and cold laser therapy procedures alleviate pain in limping dogs and promote internal healing following an injury. I also recommend these procedures for pets with osteoarthritis."

Cold laser therapy is a non-surgical approach to pain management. Holistic equine veterinarians have used the procedure for over 20 years to treat injuries and joint pain. Today, veterinarians are using cold laser therapy to provide natural pain relief for injured pets.

According to Dr. Simon, cold laser therapy works by using a low-level energy beam to penetrate just below the skin's surface. Injured cells use the laser's energy to repair cellular damage. This provides relief for pain and swelling following a soft tissue injury, such as a ligament, tendon or muscle strain.

"Cold laser therapy is a revolutionary treatment for natural pain management in animals," said the Royal Oak veterinarian. "Laser therapy allows for advanced pain management, especially for pets suffering from chronic conditions or soft tissue injuries."

Woodside Animal Hospital also provides in-house pet stem cell therapy. This treatment uses adult stem cells collected from a dog's fat deposits to promote the growth of new soft tissue and cartilage. By performing the whole procedure in the clinic, the stem cells can be harvested and re-injected on the same day.

"Our in-house pet stem cell therapy is an affordable, same-day treatment that helps dogs suffering from joint pain, osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries and hip dysplasia," said Dr. Simon. "As pets age, it's natural that their range of movement becomes restricted. While oral joint care supplements and prescription painkillers can help, medication alone cannot restore a full range of movement. Our treatments help restore activity and movement."

In addition to cold laser therapy and stem cell therapy, Dr. Simon also provides holistic treatments for cancer in dogs, cat and dog rashes, and dietary needs. The Royal Oak practice is a full-service animal hospital with wellness care, vaccinations and surgical procedures.

Dr. Simon is active in the greater Detroit veterinary community, serving as the past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and as a board member for the Southeastern Michigan Veterinary Medical Association (SEMVMA).

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Royal Oak Veterinarian Dr. Simon First in Michigan to Offer In-House Adult Pet Stem Cell Therapy

Stroke Treatment Using Stem Cells Shows Early Promise In Controversial Trial

Featured Article Main Category: Stroke Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Neurology / Neuroscience Article Date: 17 Jun 2012 - 6:00 PDT

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The hope is that the treatment, by repairing damaged brain tissue, will one day help stroke patients regain some movement and ability to speak. Even small improvements can make a big difference to a person who has been robbed of the ability to wash, dress and feed themselves.

The PISCES trial (Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke) study, which is based in Scotland at the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Southern General Hospital, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board, is the first in the world to evaluate genetically engineered neural stem cells in people with disabling ischemic stroke.

The researchers presented the interim results at the 10th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSR), which took place from 13 to 16 June 2012, in Yokohama, Japan.

The lead investigator of the trial is Professor Keith Muir, SINAPSE Professor of Clinical Imaging, Division of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Glasgow. He told the press:

"We remain pleased and encouraged by the data emerging from the PISCES study to date."

The Phase I trial, which started towards the end of 2010, and follows five years of repeated regulatory rebuffs, is testing the safety of ReN001, a genetically engineered neural stem cell line made by UK biotech ReNeuron.

The trial is controversial because the stem cell line originated nearly ten years ago, from the tissue of a 12-week fetus.

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Stroke Treatment Using Stem Cells Shows Early Promise In Controversial Trial

Stem cell treatment offers hope to those sickened after getting bone marrow

wwltv.com

Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Updated yesterday at 7:35 PM

Meg Farris / Eyewitness News Email: mfarris@wwltv.com | Twitter: @megfarriswwl

NEWORLEANS- She was only in kindergarten when doctors gave her family the bad news.

Now she's one of the first in Louisiana to try a new treatment for people who get gravely ill after a bone marrow transplant.

The last three years of Sami Smith's life have been physically and emotionally painful.

"I literally, they try to scare me and they can't, because I've been through the scariest thing that you can," said Smith, 9, of Ponchatoula.

Her mother noticed she was napping more and bruising. Doctors diagnosed AML, a type of leukemia or blood cancer. Had she not gotten to the doctor then, she would not have made it much longer. A Child's Wish sent her to Disney World. The good news, one of her teen sisters Mary Hannah, 13, was a good bone marrow match. The transplant worked and Sami was cancer free.

Then devastating news. Sami got a condition called GvHD (Graft-versus-host disease) where the new marrow launches a painful attack on the recipient's body. It's the leading cause of transplant-related death.

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Stem cell treatment offers hope to those sickened after getting bone marrow

Researchers urge EU not to cut stem cell funding

* European Parliament debating funding for 2014 to 2020

* Scientists fear cuts to embryonic stem cell research

* Experts say cutting funds would hold back entire field

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Leading scientists, biomedical research bodies and patient groups urged the European Parliament on Friday to maintain vital European Union funding for studies using embryonic stem cells.

Hailing the field as "one of the most exciting and promising" in modern biomedical research, the group said they feared research grants currently under review may be under threat from pro-life European parliamentarians who say public funds should not be spent on embryonic stem cell work.

"(EU) Commission funding must be available to continue to support scientists investigating all types of stem cells - including human embryonic stem cells - with potential to make advances in regenerative medicine," they wrote in an open letter released by the Wellcome Trust, a charitable health foundation.

The European Parliament is currently debating the future outline of Horizon (Euronext: HOR.NX - news) 2020, the EU's programme for research and innovation which will run from 2014 to 2020.

Draft rules provide for stem cell research funding, including embryonic stem cells but some member states have been lobbying for embryonic stem cell research to be excluded.

Many scientists believe stem cell research has the potential to lead to the development of treatments for a whole host of diseases including incurable neurodegenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis, as well as type 1 diabetes, various serious heart conditions, liver damage, spinal cord damage and blindness.

Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) , and particularly Britain, is considered a world leader in stem cell research. The experts, from charities, funding bodies and patient groups, said if Europe is to hold on to this competitive edge, it is crucial to maintain funding for all stem cell research.

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Researchers urge EU not to cut stem cell funding

Gazette.Net: Osiris scores approval down under for stem cell drug

Osiris Therapeutics has won a second nations imprimatur for its stem cell treatment for a deadly complication of bone marrow transplants in children.

Following Canada's lead last month, New Zealand this week gave the Columbia company marketing approval for Prochymal to treat pediatric graft-vs.-host disease, Osiris reported. Canada was the first internationally recognized regulatory body to approve a stem cell drug.

The disease kills up to 80 percent of children who contract it, many within weeks of diagnosis.

"With each of our approvals it becomes clearer that the time for life-saving stem cell therapies in the practice of medicine has arrived, and we are humbled to have a leading role, CEO C. Randal Mills said in a company statement.

More cases of the disease are expected "as the demographic profile of our transplant population evolves," Hans Klingemann, professor of medicine and director of the Bone Marrow & Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Program at Tufts University School of Medicine, said in the statement. "Effective strategies to manage the often lethal consequences of [graft-vs.-host disease] reduce the overall risk to transplantation ..."

Osiris applied for marketing approval in New Zealand in May 2011 and was given priority review the following month.

Besides Canada and New Zealand, Prochymal is available in the U.S. and several other nations under special patient circumstances.

The company also is testing the drug as a treatment for Crohns disease, heart attacks and type 1 diabetes.

In other Maryland bioscience industry news:

Sanaria, working with University of Maryland researchers, has won a three-year federal grant worth almost $3 million to genetically engineer mosquitoes for the Rockville biotech's malaria vaccine manufacturing program.

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Gazette.Net: Osiris scores approval down under for stem cell drug

Six new U-M stem cell lines now publicly available to help researchers find treatments for disease

Lines in US registry will help studies on Huntington's disease, hemophilia & more

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research.

U-M now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntington's disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.

Researchers at U-M and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene.

The three U-M stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes.

Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos carrying disease genes were created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation and would have otherwise been discarded if not donated by the couples who donated them.

Some came from couples having fertility treatment at U-M's Center for Reproductive Medicine, others from as far away as Portland, OR. Some were never frozen, which may mean that the stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities.

The full list of U-M-derived stem cell lines accepted to the NIH registry includes:

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Six new U-M stem cell lines now publicly available to help researchers find treatments for disease

Stroke patients 'healed' by controversial stem cell injections that have improved movement and allowed one to speak

By Fiona Macrae

PUBLISHED: 19:48 EST, 14 June 2012 | UPDATED: 19:48 EST, 14 June 2012

The pioneering treatment could revolutionise stroke rehabilitation (picture posed by model)

The first stroke patients to have a pioneering and controversial stem cell treatment have shown tantalising signs of improvement.

The five men have seen improvements in their ability to move, and in one case, speak, after millions of stem cells from an aborted 12-week-old baby were injected into their brains up to 18 months ago.

However, the treatment has provoked criticism from campaigners who say that the use of aborted tissue cannot be justified, whatever the benefits to the patient.

The trial, spearheaded by Surrey-based biotech firm ReNeuron and carried out at Glasgows Southern General Hospital, was the first in the world to give brain cells to stroke patients.

The treatment capitalises on the power of stem cells, dubbed master cells, which have the ability to multiply repeatedly and transform into other cell types, acting as a repair kit for the body.

Experts cautioned that the work is at a very early stage, but added that even the smallest of improvements can make a huge difference to someone who has been robbed of the ability to dress or feed themselves.

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Stroke patients 'healed' by controversial stem cell injections that have improved movement and allowed one to speak

Six new stem cell lines now publicly available

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2012) Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research.

U-M now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntington's disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.

Researchers at U-M and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene.

The three U-M stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes.

Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos carrying disease genes were created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation and would have otherwise been discarded if not donated by the couples who donated them.

Some came from couples having fertility treatment at U-M's Center for Reproductive Medicine, others from as far away as Portland, OR. Some were never frozen, which may mean that the stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities.

The full list of U-M-derived stem cell lines accepted to the NIH registry includes:

"Our last three years of work have really begun to pay off, paving the way for scientists worldwide to make novel discoveries that will benefit human health in the near future," says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the lines and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

"Each cell line accepted to the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines," says Sue O'Shea, Ph.D., professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the U-M Medical School, and co-director of the Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies.

U-M is one of only three academic institutions to have disease-specific stem cell lines listed in the national registry, says Smith, who is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. The first line, a genetically normal one, was accepted to the registry in February.

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Six new stem cell lines now publicly available

Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims

"So it's interesting to see that in all the patients so far they have improved slightly over the course of their involvement in the study."

The six patients suffered strokes between six months and five years before they were treated, and all had been left with limb weakness.

The patients were assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale which ranked the first five patients with a median score of eight before the treatment and four points three months afterwards.

The sixth patient was treated less than three months ago. Six further patients will be treated as part of this Phase 1 trial.

Professor Muir said he was "intrigued" by the early results.

He added: "We know that if you're involved in a trial you are going to see patients change in behaviour, particularly if you're doing something invasive, so we need to be very cautious indeed in interpreting these results.

"However, that said, it is not something we'd anticipated seeing in this group of patients."

Further trials are needed to establish whether stem cells actually help the brain repair damaged tissue.

Michael Hunt, chief executive officer of the company developing the treatment, ReNeuron, said: "The clinical trial is primarily a safety study and we must therefore treat any of the observed early indications of functional benefit with considerable caution at this stage.

"That said, we remain encouraged by the results seen in the study to date and we look forward to providing further updates."

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Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims