Stem Cell Clinic

Stem cell stroke therapy shows promise after first human trial

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

A pilot study undertaken by researchers from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London has shown promise in rapid treatment of serious strokes. The study, the first of its kind published in the UK, treated patients using stem cells from bone marrow.

Imagine a perfectly ordinary beginning to your day, say burned toast, no matching pair of socks and the usual damp commute to work. Except at some point through the usual minutiae you suffer a massive stroke. If you dont die outright, you may soon afterwards. Even supposing you survive those first days or weeks, the chance of your life resuming its comforting tedium is impossibly remote. You may need assistance for the rest of your shortened life.

According to the Stroke Association, about 152,000 people suffer a stroke in the UK alone each year. However, the five patients treated in the recent Imperial College pilot study all showed improvements. According to doctors, four of those had suffered the most severe kind of stroke, which leaves only four percent of people alive or able to live independently six months after the event. All four of the patients were alive after six months.

A particular set of CD34+ stem cells was used, as they help with the production of blood cells and blood vessels lining cells. These same cells have been found to improve the effects of stroke in animals, and they assist in brain tissue and blood growth in the affected areas of the brain. The CD34+ cells were isolated from samples taken from patients bone marrow and then infused into the affected area via an artery that leads to the brain, using keyhole surgery.

The innovative stem cell treatment differs from others in one important way: patients are treated within seven days of their stroke, rather than six months hence. The stroke sufferers all recorded improvements in terms of clinical measures of disability, despite four of the five having suffered the most severe kind of stroke.

It's still early days for the research, and much more will need to be done to expand clinical trials, but eventually it is hoped that a drug may be developed that can be administered to stroke sufferers as soon as they are admitted to hospital. This could ameliorate longer term effects and allow for speedier recovery and a faster entry into therapy.

A paper detailing the research was published in journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Source: Imperial College London

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Stem cell stroke therapy shows promise after first human trial

Hope for stroke victims after radical stem cell treatment enables patients to move and talk again

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

5 stroke victims were treated with stem cells extracted from bone marrow Treatment triggers rapid regeneration of damaged brain cells Patients regained power of speech and use of their arms and legs More than 150,000 people have a stroke in England every year Treatment is at early stage and needs years of testing Imperial College London scientists says it shows 'great potential'

By Ben Spencer

Published: 09:25 EST, 8 August 2014 | Updated: 19:30 EST, 8 August 2014

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Five people who had suffered severe strokes (illustrated) regained the power of speech and mobility thanks to a radical new treatment

Stroke patients have shown remarkable signs of recovery after they were given a radical new treatment.

Five people who had suffered severe strokes regained the power of speech, use of their arms and legs and improved cognition after just six months, according to British research published today.

The three men and two women, aged between 45 and 75, were treated with stem cells extracted from their own bone marrow in the first experiment of its kind.

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Hope for stroke victims after radical stem cell treatment enables patients to move and talk again

Hope for future treatment of thousands of stroke sufferers from stem cells

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

"So we said what about the other 90 per cent?"

The team targeted patients who had suffered massive strokes involving a blood clot in the blood vessel in the middle of the brain. Typically there is a high mortality rate in these patients and those who survive are often severely disabled, are unable to walk, talk, feed or dress themselves.

The experimental procedure was carried out on five patients aged between 40 and 70, all of whom showed improvement over the following six months and three were living independently.

More than 152,000 people suffer a stroke in England per year and the research team said that the new procedure could eventually help most of them.

Dr Madina Kara, a neuroscientist at The Stroke Association, said: Previous studies have shown that a type of stem cell, called CD34+ cells, shows promise to aid stroke recovery. These latest results suggest that this type of treatment could be administered safely and were looking forward to seeing the outcomes of further studies to see exactly how they are aiding recovery.

This is one of the most exciting recent developments in stroke research; however, its still early days in stem cell research but the findings could lead to new treatments for stroke patients in the future.

"In the UK, someone has a stroke every three and half minutes, and around 58 per cenrt of stroke survivors are left with a disability.

"One of the few existing treatments which can limit brain damage caused by stroke is thrombolysis. However, this drug can only be used to treat strokes caused by blood clots and must be administered within the first 4.5 hours after a stroke. There is an urgent need for alternative treatments to help prevent the debilitating impact of stroke."

The experimental procedure involves several stages, first the patient's own bone marrow is harvested, which was then sent to a specialist laboratory so the specific stem cells, called CD34+ can be selected.

Then the patient undergoes a procedure in which a wire is inserted into a vein in the neck and up into the area of brain damage. Once there the stem cells are released and the wire retracted.

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Hope for future treatment of thousands of stroke sufferers from stem cells

Cord blood donation available at two additional metro hospitals

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

Beginning today, Menorah Medical Center and Shawnee Mission Medical Center have joined Saint Lukes Hospital's Cord Blood Program and now offer mothers the option to donate their newborn babys umbilical cord blood to help those in need of a stem cell transplant.

According to a news release from Saint Luke's Hospital, umbilical cord blood, like bone marrow, is rich in hematopoietic stem cells, which create all of a persons blood cells. Cord blood cells can be used in the treatment of leukemia, sickle cell anemia and dozens of other diseases. Cord blood stem cells are collected after the birth of a healthy infant and pose no risk to the donating mother or baby.

Through this partnership, our hospitals are helping increase the worlds supply of stem cell-rich umbilical cord blood and helping those who suffer from any one of 80 life-threatening diseases, said Bill Ward, director of the Cord Blood Program for Saint Lukes Hospital of Kansas City.

Prior to today, the Cord Blood Program at Saint Lukes Hospital, the areas only free cord blood donation program, collected and processed donations from the four metro area Saint Lukes hospitals, as well as Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

Since its inception in 2008, the Cord Blood Program at Saint Lukes has received more than 9,000 donations and banked 939 units of cord blood at the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank. Cord blood units are made available to anyone, anywhere in the world, who needs a stem cell transplant.

Cord blood collected from the hospitals is processed and cryopreserved at Saint Lukes before being sent to the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank, which distributes the blood units to hospitals upon request. Donations are made anonymously, and the process is safe, painless, easy and free to families. The cord blood is collected after the baby has delivered, so it does not interfere with the birthing process. The collection does not take place if there is concern for the safety of the mother or newborn.

For more information about Saint Lukes Cord Blood Program, click here.

Most Cosmetic Procedures Based on Stem Cells Are Bogus, Experts Say

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Could stem cell injections help rejuvenate your face or body? Probably not, plastic surgery experts say, but ads for these types of bogus procedures abound on the Internet.

"Stem cells offer tremendous potential, but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk," a team led by Dr. Michael Longaker, of Stanford University Medical Center, wrote in a review published in the August issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

The experts say consumers need to be wary of advertisements promoting the benefits of "minimally invasive, stem cell-based rejuvenation procedures." Claims for stem cell procedures for facelifts, breast augmentation and vaginal rejuvenation are not only unsubstantiated, but also risky, Longaker's team said.

They note that, to date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved only one cosmetic stem cell procedure designed to treat fine facial wrinkles. And since that single procedure was approved, the product involved has been monitored extensively.

Overall, cosmetic stem cell procedures have not undergone significant scientific scrutiny, the Stanford team said. The risks associated with stem cell and tissue processing have not been closely examined. The effects of aging on stem cells are also not well established, the researchers explained.

To investigate concerning claims being made about cosmetic stem cell procedures, the researchers performed a basic Internet search. They found the most common result was "stem cell facelifts." Most of the procedures used stem cells isolated from fat but did not provide details on the quality of the stem cells.

More than 100 clinical trials are currently evaluating stem cells derived from fat, but few are focusing on cosmetic treatments. The researchers cautioned that the products used in these cosmetic procedures likely involves additional types of cells unless they utilized sophisticated cell-sorting techniques.

Many blood plasma-enriched "platelet protein treatments" are also incorrectly advertised as stem cell therapy, the study's authors noted.

Meanwhile, there is only minimal evidence that cosmetic stem cell procedures have any anti-aging effects, the researchers said. They warn that stem cell facelifts may actually be "lipo-filling" procedures -- fat injections with no prolonged anti-aging effect.

Although stem cells do hold potential for cosmetic procedures in years to come, today's advertising claims for these procedures are going beyond any scientific evidence on safety and effectiveness, the researchers conclude.

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Most Cosmetic Procedures Based on Stem Cells Are Bogus, Experts Say

Stem cell beauty treatments? Be wary, experts say

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

Could stem cell injections help rejuvenate your face or body? Probably not, plastic surgery experts say, but ads for these types of bogus procedures abound on the Internet.

14 Photos

Tummy tucks and facelifts pale in comparison to these surprising surgeries patients request

Many blood plasma-enriched "platelet protein treatments" are also incorrectly advertised as stem cell therapy, the study's authors noted.

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Stem cell beauty treatments? Be wary, experts say

Dramatic Growth of Grafted Stem Cells in Rat Spinal Cord Injuries

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

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Newswise Building upon previous research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System report that neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and grafted into rats after a spinal cord injury produced cells with tens of thousands of axons extending virtually the entire length of the animals central nervous system.

Writing in the August 7 early online edition of Neuron, lead scientist Paul Lu, PhD, of the UC San Diego Department of Neurosciences and colleagues said the human iPSC-derived axons extended through the white matter of the injury sites, frequently penetrating adjacent gray matter to form synapses with rat neurons. Similarly, rat motor axons pierced the human iPSC grafts to form their own synapses.

The iPSCs used were developed from a healthy 86-year-old human male.

These findings indicate that intrinsic neuronal mechanisms readily overcome the barriers created by a spinal cord injury to extend many axons over very long distances, and that these capabilities persist even in neurons reprogrammed from very aged human cells, said senior author Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, professor of Neurosciences and director of the UC San Diego Center for Neural Repair.

For several years, Tuszynski and colleagues have been steadily chipping away at the notion that a spinal cord injury necessarily results in permanent dysfunction and paralysis. Earlier work has shown that grafted stem cells reprogrammed to become neurons can, in fact, form new, functional circuits across an injury site, with the treated animals experiencing some restored ability to move affected limbs. The new findings underscore the potential of iPSC-based therapy and suggest a host of new studies and questions to be asked, such as whether axons can be guided and how will they develop, function and mature over longer periods of time.

While neural stem cell therapies are already advancing to clinical trials, this research raises cautionary notes about moving to human therapy too quickly, said Tuszynski.

The enormous outgrowth of axons to many regions of the spinal cord and even deeply into the brain raises questions of possible harmful side effects if axons are mistargeted. We also need to learn if the new connections formed by axons are stable over time, and if implanted human neural stem cells are maturing on a human time frame months to years or more rapidly. If maturity is reached on a human time frame, it could take months to years to observe functional benefits or problems in human clinical trials.

In the latest work, Lu, Tuszynski and colleagues converted skin cells from a healthy 86-year-old man into iPSCs, which possess the ability to become almost any kind of cell. The iPSCs were then reprogrammed to become neurons in collaboration with the laboratory of Larry Goldstein, PhD, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center. The new human neurons were subsequently embedded in a matrix containing growth factors and grafted into two-week-old spinal cord injuries in rats.

Mayo Clinic researching ALS stem cell treatment

By adminAugust 8, 2014Stem Cell Clinic

by KING 5 HealthLink

KING5.com

Posted on August 7, 2014 at 7:08 PM

Time with grandchildren is especially precious for Linda Leight. Just like Lou Gherig, she has ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis It will eventually paralyze nearly all muscles in the body. With Linda, it started with her voice.

The disease has slowed her speech. Eventually she won't be able to breathe. There is no cure.

So with husband Jerry by her side, she enrolled in a study using stem cells from a patient's own fat and injecting them into the spine.

"We're hopeful that the stem cells will provide a protection for the neurons that remain in the spinal cord and the brain and hopefully slow down the disease and prolong lifespan," said Dr. Nathan Staff.

Just like Lou Gehrig, Linda has her own baseball card to raise awareness. Even if the research doesn't help her, she's hopeful for her grandchildrens' generation.

Another study is using stem cells from a patient's bone marrow. Scientists remain cautious as all of this research is still in the early stages.

Although ALS can run in families, the vast majority of cases don't have a genetic link. One group at higer risk: military veterans who served during the Gulf War. They are almost twice as likely to develop ALS as the general population.

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Mayo Clinic researching ALS stem cell treatment

Stem cells show promise for stroke in pilot study

By adminAugust 8, 2014Uncategorized

A stroke therapy using stem cells extracted from patients' bone marrow has shown promising results in the first trial of its kind in humans.

Five patients received the treatment in a pilot study conducted by doctors at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and scientists at Imperial College London.

The therapy was found to be safe, and all the patients showed improvements in clinical measures of disability.

The findings are published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. It is the first UK human trial of a stem cell treatment for acute stroke to be published.

The therapy uses a type of cell called CD34+ cells, a set of stem cells in the bone marrow that give rise to blood cells and blood vessel lining cells. Previous research has shown that treatment using these cells can significantly improve recovery from stroke in animals. Rather than developing into brain cells themselves, the cells are thought to release chemicals that trigger the growth of new brain tissue and new blood vessels in the area damaged by stroke.

The patients were treated within seven days of a severe stroke, in contrast to several other stem cell trials, most of which have treated patients after six months or later. The Imperial researchers believe early treatment may improve the chances of a better recovery.

A bone marrow sample was taken from each patient. The CD34+ cells were isolated from the sample and then infused into an artery that supplies the brain. No previous trial has selectively used CD34+ cells, so early after the stroke, until now.

Although the trial was mainly designed to assess the safety and tolerability of the treatment, the patients all showed improvements in their condition in clinical tests over a six-month follow-up period.

Four out of five patients had the most severe type of stroke: only four per cent of people who experience this kind of stroke are expected to be alive and independent six months later. In the trial, all four of these patients were alive and three were independent after six months.

Dr Soma Banerjee, a lead author and Consultant in Stroke Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "This study showed that the treatment appears to be safe and that it's feasible to treat patients early when they might be more likely to benefit. The improvements we saw in these patients are very encouraging, but it's too early to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of the therapy. We need to do more tests to work out the best dose and timescale for treatment before starting larger trials."

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Stem cells show promise for stroke in pilot study

Japanese researcher's death highlights problems in dealing with scientific misconduct

By adminAugust 7, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

10 hours ago by Michael Eisen, The Conversation Yoshiki Sasai was a leading stem-cell scientist in Japan. Credit: EPA

In 1987, my father, a scientist at the US National Institute of Health, killed himself after a member of his lab committed scientific fraud and he got caught up in the investigation. So I found the news that Yoshiki Sasai, a Japanese stem-cell scientist, had allegedly committed suicide in the wake of the STAP controversy deeply disturbing.

The STAP controversy began in January over two papers published in the journal Nature. In them, researchers claimed to have developed a simple method of creating embryonic-like stem cells, called STAP (or stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency). The claim, if true, would have given stem-cell research a big boost. But, within months, problems with the papers were spotted and the researchers' institute deemed that the lead author Haruko Obokata was guilty of scientific misconduct.

Sasai, one of the leading stem-cell researchers in Japan, was a co-author on both the papers, which have now been retracted from Nature. He was, however, cleared of any charges of misconduct.

Neither was my father involved in fraud. But as one of the senior scientists on the research project, my father bore the brunt of institutional criticism. And he seemed to have been far more disturbed by it than the people who were found guilty of the fraud.

It is hard for me not to place at least part of the blame for my father's death on the way the scientific community responds to scientific misconduct.

Obviously, fraud is a terrible thing. Nothing provides as deep an existential threat to the scientific enterprise than making up data. But as bad as it is, there is something deeply ugly about the way the scientific community responds to misconduct.

We need to deal swiftly with fraud when it is identified. But time after time I have watched not only the accused, but everyone around them, be treated with such sanctimonious disdain.

Imagine what it must be like to have devoted your life to science, and then to discover that someone in your midst someone you have some role in supervising has committed the ultimate scientific sin. That itself must be disturbing enough. Indeed I remember how upset my father was as he was trying to prove that fraud had taken place. But then imagine what it must feel like to all of a sudden become the focal point for scrutiny to experience your colleagues and your field casting you aside. It must feel like your whole world is collapsing around you, and not everybody has the mental strength to deal with that.

We are all so confident this could never happen to us, that it must be that somebody in a position of power was lax, or that the environment was flawed. It is there in the institutional response. And it is there in the whispers. I still remember how the faculty in my graduate department at the California Institute of Technology talked about David Baltimore when Thereza Imanishi-Kari, a researcher with whom Baltimore had published a paper in the journal Cell, was accused of scientific fraud. (Imanishi-Kari was eventually deemed not guilty.)

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Japanese researcher's death highlights problems in dealing with scientific misconduct