Adult Stem Cell Research Showed Tremendous Success in 2007
Studies,
Trials
by David Prentice, William L. Saunders, and Michael Fragoso
January 5, 2008
LifeNews.com Note: The three authors write for the Family Research Council.
As the reader will see from our prior publication, "Adult Stem Cell Success
Stories -2006," [1] adult stem cell research had an impressive track record
as of 2006 --over 1100 FDA approved clinical trials in the United States for
72 different illnesses and disabilities.
2007 has seen further advances in adult stem cell research and therapy.
Currently, peer-reviewed studies have documented over 1400 FDA
approved trials [2] for 73 different conditions in humans where patient
health has been improved through adult stem cell therapy.[3]
Adult stem cells are found throughout the human body from birth onward,
in placentas, and in umbilical cord blood. Unlike embryonic stem cell
research, no embryos are destroyed in retrieving them.
Treatments with adult stem cells continue to be so impressive and
continually increasing that we have decided to publish a yearly update
each fall/winter. (Note: There have been no successful treatment trials in
human beings using embryonic stem cells.)
Unlike embryonic stem cells and the recently discovered (and ethical)
"induced pluripotent stem cells" ("iPS cells")[4], adult stem cells do not
create tumors.[5]
Below we summarize some of the developments in adult stem cell research
and treatments since our 2006 paper.
Heart Tissue Regeneration
Doug Rice of Otis Orchards, Washington, was diagnosed with congestive
heart failure eight years ago. Diabetes prevented him from receiving a
heart transplant.
Facing the possibility that he would suffer fatal heart failure, Rice flew to
Thailand to receive an experimental adult stem cell therapy through the
company TheraVitae. Stem cells were isolated from Rice's blood in a lab in
Israel and differentiated into angiogenic cell precursors, and transferred
back into Rice's heart.
So far, TheraVitae has treated over 100 patients, 80 of whom have seen
improvement, with the remainder holding steady. In Rice's case, the
results were immediate, with his heart increasing to 41 percent efficiency
from 11 percent before the procedure. According to Rice, "I've been around
a lot of people with bad hearts. I know if they looked at [adult stem cell
therapy], it might save their lives. I firmly believe it saved mine."[6]
Osiris Therapeutics is another company that has begun using adult stem
cells to treat heart patients. Their "easy to administer" adult stem cell
treatments have been given to recent heart attack victims, who have seen
their hearts pump blood 25 percent more efficiently on average, when
tested at both three and six months intervals following the procedure.
The procedure is done intravenously, thus raising the possibility it could be
widely and easily used at local hospitals. Marc Penn, director of the
Bakken Heart Brain Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, says of the new
therapy, "It's very exciting, perhaps a sea-changing trial for the field ...
offering the chance of an off-the-shelf-product."[7]
Bodo-Eckehard Strauer is the director of the cardiology department at
Dusseldorf University Hospital, and has used bone marrow stem cells to
treat over 300 heart patients. In September, 2007, Dr. Strauer used adult
stem cells on a patient "on the verge of dying" following a severe heart
attack. Following seven weeks in intensive care, he received a transplant
of his own bone marrow adult stem cells from Dr. Strauer, and his
condition improved. This seems to be the first time that cardiogenic shock
has been treated by adult stem cells. Dr. Strauer calls it a "global
innovation."[8]
Type 1 Diabetes
Jaider Furlan Abbud is one of 13 patients who were the first to be
successfully treated with adult stem cells for Type 1 Diabetes. Dr. Abbud
and the other patients participated in a clinical trial led by researchers
from Northwestern University and Brazil. Dr. Abbud became insulin-free
after receiving treatment which included an adult stem cell transplant
using his own blood stem cells.[9]
Bone Cancer
Carol Franz has survived two bouts of multiple myeloma --a cancer of the
bone marrow -because of adult stem cell transplants. In 2003, when Franz
first was diagnosed with the disease, the only way to keep the cancer from
destroying her bone structure was to undertake five months of aggressive
chemotherapy.
Following this, Franz had some of her blood removed, and her adult stem
cells were isolated. Next Franz was given additional chemotherapy
treatment. Then her adult stem cells were transplanted back to her
withered bones, which regenerated.
Three years later Franz was again diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and
again was treated with her adult stem cells. To this day she is healthy and
cancer free.[10]
Nerve Regeneration
Dr. Paul Kingham of the United Kingdom Centre for Tissue Regeneration
in Manchester and his team announced in October that they were able to
transform isolated adult stem cells from human fat tissue into nerve cells.
They expect to isolate more such stem cells and use them to create
artificial nerves. According to Dr. Kingham, "The differentiated stem cells
have great potential for future clinical use, initially for treatment of
patients with traumatic injuries of nerves in the arms and the legs."[11]
Liver Cancer
Scientists at the University of Dusseldorf have successfully taken bone
marrow stem cells from liver cancer patients and used them to regrow
liver cells in their patients. Two years after the procedure, six of the eight
patients have healthy livers.[12]
Neurological Disease
At the University of California, Irvine, scientists used adult stem cells in
restoring the memory of mice. Lead researcher, Mathew Blurton-Jones,
said of the finding, "This is one of the first reports that you can take a stem
cell transplantation approach and restore memory ... There is a lot of
awareness that stem cells might be useful in treating diseases that cause
loss of motor function, but this study shows that they might benefit
memory in stroke or traumatic brain injury, and potentially, Alzheimer's
disease."[13]
[1] For a comprehensive survey of adult stem cell research successes prior
to 2007, please see Family Research Council's Insight paper "Adult Stem
Cell Success Stories -2006." Available at:
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS06H01
[2] See clinicaltrials.gov; searching with the term "stem cell". For
discussion of stem cell search terms, see the online supplementary
information for Prentice, D. A. and Tarne, G., "Adult versus
Embryonic Stem Cells: Treatments," Science 316 (June 8, 2007):
1422-1423. Available at:
http://stemcellresearch.org/facts/scienceletter.htm, or
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/data/316/5830/1422b/DC1/2
[3] For the most recent list, see
http://stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm and the peer-
reviewed reference list at that site.
[4] In this procedure, one's own body cells are directly re-programmed to
an embryonic-like stem cell state. Since this kind of embryonic stem cell,
or iPS cell, was not derived through the destruction of a living embryo,
their retrieval for research does not pose an ethical problem.
Takahashi K., et al., "Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult
Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors," Cell 131 (November 30, 2007):
861-872, published online November 20, 2007; Yu, J., et al., "Induced
Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells," Science
published online November 20, 2007; Nakagawa, M., et al., "Generation of
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells without Myc from Mouse and Human
Fibroblasts," Nature Biotechnology, published online November 30, 2007.
[5] The iPS cells, being an "embryonic-type" stem cell, have the same
propensity to multiply out of control and produce tumors as do embryonic
stem cells taken from embryos.
[6] Kevin Graman, "Lending Heartfelt Support: Stem Cell Recipient
Spreads Message," The Spokesman-Review (June 19, 2007). Available at:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=195513
[7] Rob Waters, "Stem Cells Spotlighted in Baxter Heart Study: Treatment
Believed to Reverse Heart Failure," Bloomberg News (July 16, 2007).
Available at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon_baxterjul16,1,1153370.sto
ry
[8] Brehm, M. and Strauer, B. E., "Reversal of Therapy-resistant
Cardiogenic Shock after Intracoronary Transplantation of Adult
Autologous Bone Marrow-derived Stem Cells," Dtsch Med Wochenschr 132
(September 2007):1944-1948,
[9] Voltarelli, J. C., et al., "Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic
Stem Cell Transplantation in Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus,"
Journal of the American Medical Association 297
(April 11, 2007):1568-1576.
[10] See carolfranz.com; J. Mehta and S. Singhal, "High-dose
Chemotherapy and Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
in Myeloma Patients under the Age of 65 Years, Bone Marrow Transplant
40, 1101-1114, 2007; A. Aviles, et al., "Biological Modifiers as
Cytoreductive Therapy before Stem Cell Transplant in Previously
Untreated Patients with Multiple Myeloma," Annals of Oncology 16 (2005):
219-221.
[11] Roger Highfield, "'Bionic' Nerve to Repair Injured Limbs," The
Telegraph (October 18, 2007).
[12] Celia Hall, "Stem Cell Treatment Saves Liver Cancer Patients,"
The Telegraph (March 27, 2007). Furst, G., et al., Portal Vein Embolization
and Autologous CD133+ Bone Marrow Stem Cells for Liver Regeneration:
Initial Experience," Radiology 243 (April 2007): 171-179, published
online Feb 20, 2007.
[13] Steven Reinberg, "Stem Cells Restore Memory in Mice,"
HealthDay (October 31, 2007). Yamasaki, T. R., et al., "Neural Stem Cells
Improve Memory in an Inducible Mouse Model of Neuronal Loss," The
Journal of Neuroscience 27 (October 31, 2007): 11925-11933.