Featured Article Main Category: Stroke Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Clinical Trials / Drug Trials Article Date: 28 May 2013 - 3:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Stroke Patients Show Signs Of Recovery Following Stem Cell Trial

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Updated interim results of the Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke (PISCES) study, which is testing the safety and tolerability of injecting neural stem cells into the brains of ischemic stroke patients, were reported on Monday at the 22nd European Stroke Conference in London.

The stem cell trial started in 2010, with one stroke patient, an elderly Scotsman who was injected with ReN001 cells developed by ReNeuron Group plc, at the trial center at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, UK.

By 2012, there were six patients on the small trial, and an early set of results presented at an international conference showed that five of the six patients were showing some improvement and there had been no adverse side effects.

Clare Walton, Research Communications Officer at the UK's Stroke Association says they are very excited about the results of the trial, but "we are currently at the beginning of a very long road and significant further development is needed before stem cell therapy can be regarded as a possible treatment."

The ReN001 treatment uses a stem cell line that originated some ten years ago from the tissue of a 12-week fetus.

In theory, stem cells hold a lot of promise as regenerative treatments. The idea is where tissue is damaged, such as in a stroke, doctors should be able to inject stem cells to regenerate new tissue in its place.

But in practice, it is not easy to develop effective and safe stem cell therapies.

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Stroke Patients Show Signs Of Recovery Following Stem Cell Trial