Just discovered the wonderful blog about the hot cell therapy topic! http://roosterbio.blogspot.com - there are lots of opinions on mesenchymal stem cell biology, clinical utility and other aspects. The most stunning thing about this blog is the courage for discussing the "uncomfortable" questions. These questions are intensively avoided because of some "anti-commercial" conclusions, but the resolving of such problems is extremely important for the development of safe and effective regenerative medicine.
Showing posts with label cord blood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cord blood. Show all posts
1/13/2015
8/08/2014
2/15/2013
12/20/2012
positive interim safety results of its Phase IIa study of its allogeneic stem cell therapy
Cell Therapy pioneer TiGenix has announced positive interim safety results of its Phase IIa study of its allogeneic stem cell therapy Cx611 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), showing a good safety profile at all three doses of the product that were administered in the trial.http://www.sciencebusiness.net/news/75982/European-cell-therapy-pioneer-makes-further-advance?utm_source
This is a significant development in the field of stem cell therapy because Cx611 is an allogeneic product that potentially could be made available off-the-shelf and used to treat any patient, without concerns that the foreign cells will cause an immune reaction. In addition, TiGenix says the product, which is made from adult stem cells derived from human adipose (fat) tissue, has a broad anti-inflammatory effect and could also be used to treat other autoimmune disorders.
If positive, the final results of the trial, due in April 2013, will set the scene for the further development of Cx611. The TiGenix trial is the most advanced in the world using stem cells to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Along with other cell therapies that are advancing in development such as ReNeuron plc’s neuronal cell therapy for treating the after-effects of stroke, and the human embryonic stem cell-based treatment for macular degeneration (a major cause of blindness) which Pfizer is developing in collaboration with scientists at University College London, the TiGenix news on Cx611 underlines Europe’s leading position in cell therapy and regenerative medicine.
These three products can all trace their origins back to publicly-funded basic research, providing a potent demonstration of the importance of continuing to support academic research in the field, and of building and reinforcing the clinical and regulatory framework for translating this research into commercial products.
Moves by some MEPs to end European Union funding for embryonic stem cell research in the proposed €80 billion Horizon 2020 R&D programme are widely seen as a threat to Europe’s standing in cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Science|Business brought together experts from patients’ groups, research charities, academe, industry, science and economic policy, and regulators, to discuss the implications of an end to EU support for embryonic stem cell research, and scope what needs to be done to build the regenerative medicines market in Europe, to the benefit of patients and the economy. The full report is now available here.
4/16/2012
Cool Article About the History of Stem Cell Research!
That's wonderful! I thought about it lots of times!
Who really discovered stem cells?
Is it even possible that one scientific team all by themselves discovered something so ubiquitous as stem cells?
In theory “yes”, but after much historical research including this great historical article in Cell Stem Cell, I would argue that no one group really discovered stem cells.
Instead I believe the “discovery” of stem cells was an ongoing team effort over a period of many decades and there is much credit to go around.
Who gets the credit now according to most people now for “discovering” stem cells?
Canada rightly takes pride in the work of their scientists Drs. James Till and Ernset McCulloch, who did pioneering studies in hematopoietic stem cell research.
In Canada, Till and McCulloch are unambiguously called the world’s discoverers of stem cells. Period. No ambiguity.
But is that correct?
Nope.
2/13/2012
Funny Cord Faces
Thanks to medicineisfun
2/07/2012
Phase I safety study on the use of cord blood stem cells to treat children with sensorineural hearing loss
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Cord Blood Registry® (CBR) are launching the first FDA-approved, Phase I safety study on the use of cord blood stem cells to treat children with sensorineural hearing loss.
2/05/2012
1/12/2012
Stem Cells & Future Medicine (important opinion)
I'd like to share an interesting opinion from Sara Rankin, Professor of Leukocyte and Stem Cell Biology at Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine, turns the spotlight onto the future impact of stem cell therapy:
Canadian scientists investigating the effects of radiation on the human body 50 years ago discovered that bone marrow 1contains stem cells that provide a lifelong supply of blood cells. This discovery paved the way for the first stem cell therapy – in the form of bone marrow transplants – using bone marrow stem cells from healthy donors to treat patients with genetic blood disorders and leukaemias.
Scientists went on to show that in addition to the bone marrow, almost every tissue in the body, including heart, brain, teeth and gut, contain tissue-specific stem cells. The function of these stem cells is to repair or regenerate tissues that are constantly being damaged as a result of general wear and tear – for example, replacing the lining of the gut as it is being sloughed off or generating new blood cells as they die or are destroyed. Such tissue-specific stem cells are also known as adult stem cells, simply because they are found in adult tissues. These adult stem cells are distinct from embryonic (ES) stem cells that are only found in embryos.
Canadian scientists investigating the effects of radiation on the human body 50 years ago discovered that bone marrow 1contains stem cells that provide a lifelong supply of blood cells. This discovery paved the way for the first stem cell therapy – in the form of bone marrow transplants – using bone marrow stem cells from healthy donors to treat patients with genetic blood disorders and leukaemias.
Scientists went on to show that in addition to the bone marrow, almost every tissue in the body, including heart, brain, teeth and gut, contain tissue-specific stem cells. The function of these stem cells is to repair or regenerate tissues that are constantly being damaged as a result of general wear and tear – for example, replacing the lining of the gut as it is being sloughed off or generating new blood cells as they die or are destroyed. Such tissue-specific stem cells are also known as adult stem cells, simply because they are found in adult tissues. These adult stem cells are distinct from embryonic (ES) stem cells that are only found in embryos.
12/27/2011
Equal survival rates between two major sources of blood cells.
Interesting news...
Patients who receive a blood stem cell transplant from a donor outside of their family to treatleukemia and other blood diseases are more likely to have graft failure but less likely to experience graft-versus-host disease, a condition caused by the donor cells attacking the recipient’s body, if the transplanted blood cells come directly from a donor’s bone marrow, rather than from blood stem cells circulating in the donor’s bloodstream (PBSCs), according to new research. Although the study showed differences in the type and extent of complications, the results showed no difference in patient survival rates between these two major sources of donated blood cells.
Patients who receive a blood stem cell transplant from a donor outside of their family to treatleukemia and other blood diseases are more likely to have graft failure but less likely to experience graft-versus-host disease, a condition caused by the donor cells attacking the recipient’s body, if the transplanted blood cells come directly from a donor’s bone marrow, rather than from blood stem cells circulating in the donor’s bloodstream (PBSCs), according to new research. Although the study showed differences in the type and extent of complications, the results showed no difference in patient survival rates between these two major sources of donated blood cells.
12/26/2011
FT1050 - new compound for stem cell therapies
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212220942.htm:
ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2011) — A therapy involving a natural compound may improve the ability of stem cells from umbilical cord blood to engraft in patients receiving a stem cell transplant for cancer or other diseases, a phase I clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates.
"There is a significant need to improve the speed and quality of engraftment of cord-derived stem cells," says trial leader Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital. "FT1050 has shown the ability in preclinical research to activate hematopoetic [blood-forming] stem cells so they engraft more quickly and with a higher degree of success."
FT1050-treated blood-forming stem cells are being tested as a possible solution to one of the major shortcomings of transplants involving stem cells from umbilical cord blood: the relatively small number of stem cells infused in such procedures often take longer to engraft -- or take root -- in patients than do the more numerous stem cells involved in transplants from adult donors. The delay can leave patients susceptible to dangerous infections and other complications.
Umbilical cord stem cell transplants are an option for patients who do not have a closely-matched adult donor. Because the current pool of potential donors is smaller for non-Caucasians than for Caucasians, members of ethnic minorities tend to receive transplants from cord blood at a higher rate than Caucasians do.
The goal of the phase I trial was to assess the safety of FT1050-treated cord blood cells in adult patients receiving umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants, and determine if the treated cells accelerate engraftment. In the 12 patients who participated in the trial, engraftment occurred approximately three to four days faster than happens with standard cord blood cells. Levels of white blood cells known as neutrophils returned to normal in the patients after a median of 17.5 days, similar to the rate in standard stem cell transplants. Side effects of the FT1050-treated cord blood cells were minimal. In none of the study patients did the stem cells fail to engraft.
The phase I trial was sponsored by Fate Therapeutics, Inc., of San Diego, Calif., which is developing ProHema, a biologic product consisting of hematopoietic stem cells treated with FT1050 for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. FT1050 was identified by Leonard Zon, MD, a hematologist and director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston, using chemical screens conducted in zebrafish, and is the first potential therapeutic derived from a zebrafish model to make into clinical trials.
"We're encouraged by the results of this study for patients receiving umbilical cord stem cell transplants after reduced-intensity chemotherapy treatment," Cutler says. "Further studies are planned to test FT1050-treated hematopoietic stem cells in a larger group of these patients."
ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2011) — A therapy involving a natural compound may improve the ability of stem cells from umbilical cord blood to engraft in patients receiving a stem cell transplant for cancer or other diseases, a phase I clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates.
"There is a significant need to improve the speed and quality of engraftment of cord-derived stem cells," says trial leader Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital. "FT1050 has shown the ability in preclinical research to activate hematopoetic [blood-forming] stem cells so they engraft more quickly and with a higher degree of success."
FT1050-treated blood-forming stem cells are being tested as a possible solution to one of the major shortcomings of transplants involving stem cells from umbilical cord blood: the relatively small number of stem cells infused in such procedures often take longer to engraft -- or take root -- in patients than do the more numerous stem cells involved in transplants from adult donors. The delay can leave patients susceptible to dangerous infections and other complications.
Umbilical cord stem cell transplants are an option for patients who do not have a closely-matched adult donor. Because the current pool of potential donors is smaller for non-Caucasians than for Caucasians, members of ethnic minorities tend to receive transplants from cord blood at a higher rate than Caucasians do.
The goal of the phase I trial was to assess the safety of FT1050-treated cord blood cells in adult patients receiving umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants, and determine if the treated cells accelerate engraftment. In the 12 patients who participated in the trial, engraftment occurred approximately three to four days faster than happens with standard cord blood cells. Levels of white blood cells known as neutrophils returned to normal in the patients after a median of 17.5 days, similar to the rate in standard stem cell transplants. Side effects of the FT1050-treated cord blood cells were minimal. In none of the study patients did the stem cells fail to engraft.
The phase I trial was sponsored by Fate Therapeutics, Inc., of San Diego, Calif., which is developing ProHema, a biologic product consisting of hematopoietic stem cells treated with FT1050 for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. FT1050 was identified by Leonard Zon, MD, a hematologist and director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston, using chemical screens conducted in zebrafish, and is the first potential therapeutic derived from a zebrafish model to make into clinical trials.
"We're encouraged by the results of this study for patients receiving umbilical cord stem cell transplants after reduced-intensity chemotherapy treatment," Cutler says. "Further studies are planned to test FT1050-treated hematopoietic stem cells in a larger group of these patients."
12/25/2011
Skeptics in Stem Cell Research
Stem cells are really promising, but it's important to be able to see all troubles that can be observed during and after the treatment.
Here is a relevant article that describes such problems:
All promises from clinics or cord blood banks should be taken with a pinch of salt, they say
With barely any regulation and monitoring in the lucrative stem cell therapy and cord blood banking business, their suggestion for the common man is to ask many questions at the clinics and companies offering such services and to fully understand the risks before going ahead with stem cell therapy and cord blood banking.
“Stem cells have lots of hopes and promises, but at the moment very few are of a proven benefit to the patients,” said Kanjaksha Ghosh, director of Mumbai’s National Institute of Immunohaematology, one of the laboratories of Indian Council of Medical Research.
Before accepting any stem cell therapy, a patient should ask whether it was an investigational or standard therapy; what the long term risks are and how many patients received it before, and what the response was, said Ghosh.
Explaining why private clinics offering stem cell therapies were mushrooming in India, Ghosh attributed the cause to the absence of strict regulation, hype about the technology and its wide availability. Also stem cell therapies are promised in desperate situations.
“Higher level of evidence is required before the stem cell therapies are put to clinical use,” Harvindersingh Chhabra at Delhi's Indian Spinal Injuries Centre said at an ICMR-department of biotechnology public consultation on stem cell.
The government in future aims at converting the revised guideline into a law on stem cell research and therapy with a punishment clause to book the doctors and clinics who flout the existing guidelines.
The misleading claims of private cord blood banks who pitch storing umbilical cord blood as “biological insurance” for lifetime protection and charge a hefty fee.
“But the volume they collect is only 70 ml, which is not sufficient if it is used to extract stem cell for anybody beyond 10 years of age,” said Shyam Agarwal, former director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education in Lucknow.
All promises from clinics or cord blood banks should be taken with a pinch of salt, they say
With barely any regulation and monitoring in the lucrative stem cell therapy and cord blood banking business, their suggestion for the common man is to ask many questions at the clinics and companies offering such services and to fully understand the risks before going ahead with stem cell therapy and cord blood banking.
“Stem cells have lots of hopes and promises, but at the moment very few are of a proven benefit to the patients,” said Kanjaksha Ghosh, director of Mumbai’s National Institute of Immunohaematology, one of the laboratories of Indian Council of Medical Research.
Before accepting any stem cell therapy, a patient should ask whether it was an investigational or standard therapy; what the long term risks are and how many patients received it before, and what the response was, said Ghosh.
Explaining why private clinics offering stem cell therapies were mushrooming in India, Ghosh attributed the cause to the absence of strict regulation, hype about the technology and its wide availability. Also stem cell therapies are promised in desperate situations.
“Higher level of evidence is required before the stem cell therapies are put to clinical use,” Harvindersingh Chhabra at Delhi's Indian Spinal Injuries Centre said at an ICMR-department of biotechnology public consultation on stem cell.
The government in future aims at converting the revised guideline into a law on stem cell research and therapy with a punishment clause to book the doctors and clinics who flout the existing guidelines.
The misleading claims of private cord blood banks who pitch storing umbilical cord blood as “biological insurance” for lifetime protection and charge a hefty fee.
“But the volume they collect is only 70 ml, which is not sufficient if it is used to extract stem cell for anybody beyond 10 years of age,” said Shyam Agarwal, former director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education in Lucknow.
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