Stem Cell Clinic

University creates new scoring system for transplant recipients

By Stem Cell Doctors

University researchers have developed a new testing system that can improve care for patients who need bone marrow and stem cell transplants.

Graft-versus-host disease is a life-threatening condition that can occur in response to transplants. GVHD causes immune cells from the transplant to attack the bodys healthy tissue. In patients with diseases such as leukemia, which compromises the bodys immune system, bone marrow or stem cell transplants are necessary.

John Levine, professor of pediatrics and the study's lead author, said in these types of cases, GVHD is a real danger.

Following transplantation surgeries, our major concern is the development of GVHD in our patients, Levine said. However, it is difficult to predict the severity of GVHD at the onset of the symptoms as it varies from patient to patient.

Prior to the research, there was no method for determining the severity of a GVHD case and whether or not it needed treatment. The treatment involves high doses of medication that reduce immune activity, so doctors must be extremely cautious when treating GVHD. Levine and his co-investigators assessed nearly 800 patients and created a scoring system that uses three proteins to assess the severity of each case of the disease.

We found out that it was not one protein but a combination of three recently validated biomarkers TNFR1, ST2, and Reg3, Levine said. We then formulated an equation which computes the concentration of the biomarkers into three Ann Arbor scores. The scores are positively correlated with the amount of risk the diagnosed patient is in, so a score 1 indicates a patient with minimal risk while a patient diagnosed with a score of 3 will subjected to intensive primary therapy.

The Ann Arbor scoring system will help ensure patients at lower risk are subjected to less aggressive treatments than patients at higher risk. Patients will then gain individualized treatments based on their needs.

More than half of the patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation develop GVHD. Though the degree of severity differs in patients, the disease is highly lethal if not treated immediately.

The research began in the late 1990s when investigators analyzed blood samples from 500 GVHD patients. The results were verified when another 300 patient blood samples from across the United States were analyzed.

The next step, according to Levine, is the launch of a clinical trial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved this step.

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University creates new scoring system for transplant recipients

Regenestem Network, a division of Global Stem Cells Group, Announces Launch of New Stem Cells and Regenerative …

By Stem Cell Treatment

MIAMI (PRWEB) January 22, 2015

Regenestem, a division of the Global Stem Cells Group, Inc., has announced the launch of a new stem cell treatment center in Veracruz, Mexico. The new facility offers the most advanced protocols and techniques in cellular medicine to patients from around the world.

The opening of Regenestem Veracruz is in partnership with Eleuterio Arrieta, M.D., Director of Santa Teresita Hospital in Veracruz. Dr. Arrieta has extensive experience in management of chronic degenerative diseases with autologous stem cell therapies, expertise he will use to deliver cutting edge therapies and follow-up treatment under the Regenestem brand in Veracruz.

Under the direction of Global Stem Cells Group, Regenestem is expanding its clinical presence worldwide by partnering with qualified physicians experienced in stem cell therapies to open new clinics, licensed and developed under the Regenestem banner.

In 2014, Global Stem Cells Group expanded the Regenestem Networks presence to 20 countries, adding new state-of-the-art regenerative medicine facilities to the company's growing global presence.

Regenestem offers stem cell treatments to help with a variety of diseases and conditions including arthritis, autism, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, and pain due to injuries at various facilities worldwide. Regenestem Veracruz will have an international staff experienced in administering the leading cellular therapies available.

Regenestem is certified for the medical tourism market, and staff physicians are board-certified or board-eligible. Regenestem clinics provide services in more than 10 specialties, attracting patients from the United States and around the world.

The Global Stem Cells Group and Regenestem are committed to the highest of standards in service and technology, expert and compassionate care, and a philosophy of exceeding the expectations of their international patients.

For more information, visit the Regenestem Network website, email info(at)regenstem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

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Regenestem Network, a division of Global Stem Cells Group, Announces Launch of New Stem Cells and Regenerative ...

New technique could revolutionize stem-cell transplants

By Stem Cell Treatment

CTV.ca News Staff Published Monday, November 30, 2009 10:06AM EST Last Updated Saturday, May 19, 2012 12:22AM EDT

Montreal researchers are taking part in what could become a breakthrough in stem cell transplants, by leading the first transplant of a mismatched donor.

A 28-year-old father-to-be who has Ewing sarcoma is about to become the first person in North America to get a transplant from a mismatched donor.

The patient, Andrew Willette, needs the transplant to fight his cancer, but no one in his family is an appropriate match. So he will be using cells from his sister, who is only a partial match.

Usually, such transplants fail. That's because patients usually reject and attack the foreign donor cells. The ensuing response can kill the patient, or lead to infections or relapses.

But, the technique pioneered in a Montreal lab by Dr. Denis-Claude Roy of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital could change that.

Roy explains that his research team developed a new approach that preserves the cells that fight infection and disease while eliminating the cells that reject donor cells.

"We are letting Mother Nature decide which cells are going to react," he told CTV's Canada AM Monday morning.

Roy explains that the technique involves introducing donor cells to the patient cells in a lab.

"Those cells that recognize foreign patient cells become activated. The cells that are there to fight infections or viruses or even leukemia aren't activated, they don't see their target, so they're actually sleeping. So we then kill those cells that are activated," he explained.

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New technique could revolutionize stem-cell transplants

Does gestational diabetes affect the therapeutic potential of umbilical cord-derived stem cells?

By Stem Cell Medicine

IMAGE:Stem Cells and Development is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online. The journal is dedicated to communication and objective analysis of developments in... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, January 20, 2015-- Multipotent cells isolated from the human umbilical cord, called mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs) have shown promise for use in cell therapy to treat a variety of human diseases. However, intriguing new evidence shows that hUC-MSCs isolated from women with gestational diabetes demonstrate premature aging, poorer cell growth, and altered metabolic function, as reported in an article in Stem Cells and Development, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Stem Cells and Development website until February 17th, 2015.

Jooyeon Kim and coauthors from University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul, Korea, compared the growth and viability characteristics of hUC-MSCs from the umbilical cords of pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes. They evaluated cell growth, cellular senescence, mitochondrial function-related gene expression as a measure of metabolic activity, and the stem cells' ability to differentiate into various cell types such as bone and fat cells. They report their findings in the article "Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Affected by Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Display Premature Aging and Mitochondrial Dysfunction."

"We are only just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding how environmental and gestational stressors of all kinds affect stem cell populations," says Editor-in-Chief Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI. "The work described offers a non-invasive assay to help determine risk of developmental clinical vulnerability."

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About the Journal

Stem Cells and Development is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online. The Journal is dedicated to communication and objective analysis of developments in the biology, characteristics, and therapeutic utility of stem cells, especially those of the hematopoietic system. A complete table of contents and free sample issue may be viewed on the Stem Cells and Development website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cellular Reprogramming, Tissue Engineering, and Human Gene Therapy. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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Does gestational diabetes affect the therapeutic potential of umbilical cord-derived stem cells?

Early Study Says Stem Cells May Reverse Multiple Sclerosis Disability

By Stem Cell Medicine

Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter Posted: Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 12:00 PM

TUESDAY, Jan. 20, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A therapy that uses patients' own primitive blood cells may be able to reverse some of the effects of multiple sclerosis, a preliminary study suggests.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, had experts cautiously optimistic.

But they also stressed that the study was small -- with around 150 patients -- and the benefits were limited to people who were in the earlier courses of multiple sclerosis (MS).

"This is certainly a positive development," said Bruce Bebo, the executive vice president of research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

There are numerous so-called "disease-modifying" drugs available to treat MS -- a disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective sheath (called myelin) around fibers in the brain and spine, according to the society. Depending on where the damage is, symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems and difficulty with balance and coordination.

But while those drugs can slow the progression of MS, they can't reverse disability, said Dr. Richard Burt, the lead researcher on the new study and chief of immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

His team tested a new approach: essentially, "rebooting" the immune system with patients' own blood-forming stem cells -- primitive cells that mature into immune-system fighters.

The researchers removed and stored stem cells from MS patients' blood, then used relatively low-dose chemotherapy drugs to -- as Burt described it -- "turn down" the patients' immune-system activity.

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Early Study Says Stem Cells May Reverse Multiple Sclerosis Disability

Four University Technologies Receive $650,000 from Science Centers QED Program

By Stem Cell Medical Center

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) January 20, 2015

Researchers developing technologies for high-speed eye exams, cancer treatment, stem cell growth and healthcare sanitation will receive a total of $650,000 in funding through the seventh round of the University City Science Centers QED Proof-of-Concept Program. The program, started in 2009, funds novel university technologies with market potential, bridging the gap between academic research and product commercialization. The awardees were selected from a pool of 68 applicants and nine universities in the Greater Philadelphia region.

The QED grants will support researchers at Lehigh University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Temple University and Thomas Jefferson University. Half of the $650,000 awarded will be contributed by the Science Center and half by the researchers institutions. Each project will also receive guidance from the Science Centers experienced team of business advisors. To date, 24 previously-funded QED projects have attracted $14.8 million in follow-on funding and led to six licensed technologies.

QED has received support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvanias Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvanias Department of Health, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, William Penn Foundation, and Wexford Science and Technology, a BioMed Realty Company.

QED continues to resonate with both the academic and funding community, says Science Center President and CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., MBA. The number of submissions continues to increase round over round as academic researchers identify ways to commercialize their emerging technologies. At the same time, the support of our funders enables us to continue to facilitate the development of these exciting technologies and contribute to the robust life science ecosystem in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

The Round 7 awardees include:

About the Science Center The University City Science Center is a dynamic hub for innovation, and entrepreneurship and technology development in the Greater Philadelphia region. It provides business incubation, programming, lab and office facilities, and support services for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing and established companies. The Science Center was the first, and remains the largest, urban research park in the United States. Since it was founded in 1963, graduate organizations and current residents of the University City Science Centers Port business incubators have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually. For more information about the Science Center, go to http://www.sciencecenter.org.

About the QED Program The QED Program was launched in April 2009. A common participation agreement that defines matching funds, indirect costs, and intellectual property management, has been signed by 21 universities and research institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware: The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Delaware State University, Drexel University, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Lehigh University, Monell Chemical Senses Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia University, Rowan University, Rutgers University, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Widener University, and The Wistar Institute.

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Four University Technologies Receive $650,000 from Science Centers QED Program

Stem cell transplantation shows potential for reducing disability in patients with MS

By Stem Cell Treatment

Results from a preliminary study indicate that among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (low intensity stem cell transplantation) was associated with improvement in measures of disability and quality of life, according to a study in the January 20 issue of JAMA.

Fifty percent of patients with MS are unable to continue employment by 10 years from diagnosis or are unable to walk by 25 years. Despite an annual cost of approximately $47,000 per patient to treat MS, no therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been shown to significantly reverse neurological disability or improve quality of life, according to background information in the article.

Multiple sclerosis is thought to be an immunemediated disorder of the central nervous system. Autologous (the use of one's own cells) hematopoietic (blood) stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a form of immune suppression but unlike standard immune-based drugs, autologous HSCT is designed to reset rather than suppress the immune system. Richard K. Burt, M.D., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and colleagues studied the association of nonmyeloablative HSCT with neurological disability and other clinical outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (defined as acute relapses followed by partial or complete recovery and stable clinical manifestations between relapses; n = 123) or secondary-progressive MS (defined as a gradual progression of disability with or without superimposed relapses; n = 28) treated between 2003 and 2014.

Outcome analysis was available for 145 patients with an average follow-up of 2.5 years. On a measure of disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score), there was significant improvement in 41 patients (50 percent of patients tested at 2 years) and in 23 patients (64 percent of patients tested at 4 years). "To our knowledge, this is the first report of significant and sustained improvement in the EDSS score following any treatment for MS," the authors write.

Receipt of HSCT was also associated with improvement in physical function, cognitive function and quality of life. There was also a reduction on another measure of clinical disease severity, volume of brain lesions associated with MS seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Four-year relapse-free survival was 80 percent and progression-free survival was 87 percent.

Patient selection is important in determining outcome, the researchers write. "In the post hoc analysis, the EDSS score did not improve in patients with secondary-progressive MS or in those with disease duration longer than 10 years."

The authors note the results are limited because this was an observational study without a control group. "Definitive conclusions will require a randomized trial; however, this analysis provides the rationale, appropriate patient selection, and therapeutic approach for a randomized study."

Editorial: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for MS

Stephen L. Hauser, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, writes in an accompanying editorial that the study by Burt et al, taken together with other available evidence, enables several conclusions to be made with reasonable confidence.

"First, autologous HSCT does not appear to be effective against established progressive forms of MS and, absent new data, additional trials of these protocols are probably not indicated for patients with progressive MS. Second, immunosuppressive regimens that include HSCT appear to be effective against the relapsing-remitting form of MS, at least over several years of observation. However, it is by no means clear that the beneficial effects result from the infusion of stem cells rather than from the conditioning regimen. Given the availability of highly effective FDA-approved therapies against relapsing-remitting MS, it would seem reasonable to use these proven monotherapies in the clinical setting before considering complex HSCT regimens."

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Stem cell transplantation shows potential for reducing disability in patients with MS

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