A significant clinical trial due to start later this year across Europe, will aim to slow, stop or even reverse the damage Multiple Sclerosis (MS) causes to the brain and spinal cord.

Researchers will collect stem cells from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood. The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it is hoped that they will repair the damage caused by MS.

Widely regarded as an autoimmune disease, MS reduces a person’s central nervous system’s ability to function correctly resulting in an assortment of symptoms including difficulty moving, damaged vision and a loss of mobility. It affects around 4000 people in New Zealand.

Each nerve in the body is covered with a protective covering called myelin which becomes damaged as the disease progresses. As the nerves become exposed the symptoms worsen as the messages sent from the brain to the body become increasingly disrupted.

Initial testing in the laboratory suggests that bone marrow stem cells not only repair the myelin, but can repair some of the damage done and protect it against further attack from the immune system.

The trial is being partially funded by the UK’s MS Society as a way to create a standard, proven therapy as many patients over the years have been lured overseas at massive expense to partake in treatments that have no foundation in science.

Dr Doug Brown of the MS Society said, “These experiments have confirmed that these stem cells hold that potential, but these need to be confirmed in large scale clinical trials.”

A treatment for patients is some way off yet. The phase two clinical trial which will involve 150 patients will commence during 2011 and will take five years to complete and assess. Even then a phase three trial may be required.

Sir Richard Sykes, chair of the UK Stem Cell Foundation, said the research was the first of its kind to take place in the UK.

“Given the high incidence of MS in the UK in comparison to other countries, I am delighted that we have at last progressed stem cell research to this stage, which will bring much-needed hope to so many people affected by this devastating condition.”

For the full story read here

The National Marrow Donor Program in the United States projects that 10,000 cord blood stem cell transplants will be performed annually by 2015, up from 2,000 in 2006… an increase of a staggering 500% according to Dr Robert Dracker, Executive Medical Director, Americord Registry.

The leading haematologist, transfusion medicine specialist and recognised leader in cord blood banking Dr Dracker said, “Stem cells are being used in life-saving therapies such as leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders. The number of diseases that can be treated by stem cells continues to grow as researchers discover new treatments, many of which are in clinical trials or considered experimental. As the list of diseases grows, more parents are electing to store the cord blood of their newborns in anticipation that their child, the child’s siblings or other relatives may one day benefit from it.”

“There has been a dramatic increase in the use of autologous (your own) cord blood for therapy. This rapid rise can be partially attributed to an increase in the number of patients with some form of brain injury – the most common being Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). According to the International Society for Cellular Therapy, the statistics show that the cumulative probability of a child receiving an allogeneic (someone else’s) stem cell transplant by age 10 is low, only 1 in 5000. Autologous therapy treatments are actually more likely.”

“The benefits of private banking of cord blood and newborn stem cells for future medical treatments are impressive. Private banking provides a better chance of patient matching, with a 100% match for the ‘banked’ child and a 25-50% probability of a match with the patient’s siblings, depending upon disease and acceptable match criteria determined by a doctor. In addition, there is a lower chance of graft-versus-host disease — a potentially life-threatening condition.

“New techniques for cord blood harvesting have emerged, designed to provide more treatment options to a greater variety of patients. In June this year, Johns Hopkins graduate students announced the invention of a system that significantly boosts the number of stem cells collected from a newborn’s umbilical cord and placenta, which could allow more patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders to be treated with these cells. Without adequate collection methods, 90% of these cells are discarded.

“As the rapid rise of autologous therapy continues, especially for CP and acute traumatic brain injury, the necessity for private banking will increase. The medical science and technology have kept pace with this trend and will continue to do so. Physicians remain enthusiastic about the potential use of placenta stem cells in the emerging fields of gene therapy and cellular repair.”

Dr. Robert Dracker, Executive Medical Director, Americord Registry, is a leading hematologist, transfusion medicine specialist and recognized leader in cord blood and stem cell banking. Dr. Dracker was recently named as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Pediatric Advisory Committee.

For the full story read here

Every year, 600 women die of breast cancer in New Zealand, and 11% of all women are expected to be diagnosed during their lifetime. However a study undertaken by doctors at the Stanford School of Medicine is hoping to one day make this a thing of the past.

The study found that women with advanced breast cancer have a greater chance of survival when treated with a combination of aggressive chemotherapy and their own adult stem cells.

The study looked at long-term survival rates for women with advanced, stage-4 breast cancer, who were treated 12-14 years ago with high-dose chemotherapy followed by a reinfusion of their own, specially purified adult stem cells. Their results were compared to those of women who received chemotherapy and their own unpurified stem cells. (The purification of cells prevents any ‘rogue’ cancer cells surviving the transfusion and possibly causing a relapse at a later date.)

While the numbers of patients involved in the study is relatively small, the results are striking. Of the 22 women who received the purified stem cells, 5 (or 23%) are still alive, with 4 showing no sign of disease. They also had a median survival of 60 months.

Of the 74 women who received the unpurified cells, only 7 (or 9%) are still alive, with 5 having no sign of disease. They experienced a median overall survival of 28 months.

Families who bank their baby’s cord blood today, do so in the knowledge that their child has their perfect match available should they need treatment in the future. For the past 30 years cord blood stem cells have been used to rebuild children’s immune systems after cancer treatment – as an alternative to invasive bone marrow transplants.

For the full story read here

June 2011 saw the start of a training programme for midwives at National Women’s Hospital, as part of an agreement with the ADHB to provide the cord blood collection service for parents under their care. This is great news for mums- to-be who will be delivering at the hospital, and we are delighted that this service will now be more readily available to expectant parents.

Doctors at the Ain Shams University Medical School in Cairo have registered a clinical trial with the United States National Institute of Health that aims to infuse premature and low birth-weight (less than 3.3 pounds) newborn infants with their own cord blood to speed up lung development and therefore reliance on respiratory machinery in neonatal units.

Each year around 6.4% of babies are born to New Zealand parents at less than 37 weeks gestation.

The study also aims to result in improved physical development in prem babies, who are often behind their peers in terms of milestones. They will also test neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6, 12 and 18 months of age.

An infusion of cord blood is safe and easy, so has the potential to become a standard treatment for pre-term babies. The treatment would be safe and cheap, and remove the need for longer expensive intensive care stays. It is also expected to lower the premature neonatal mortality rate. To read more about the study click here.

Diabetics are naturally prone to a large array of complications and infections, most of which are worsened by their inability to heal well. But transplanting cord blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been found to “significantly accelerate” wound closure in diabetic mice, says a team of Korean researchers.

EPCs are rare cells that circulate in the bloodstream and have the ability to transform into endothelial cells, the cells that make up the lining of blood vessels. The ability to reconstruct blood vessels is essential to wound healing. They have already been used to treat strokes, heart attacks and peripheral artery disease (blockage of the blood flow to organs and extremities), which is also common in diabetics.

“EPCs are involved in revascularisation of injured tissue and tissue repair,” said the study’s chair, Dr Wonhee Suh of the CHA University Stem Cell Institute in Seoul. “Wounds associated with diabetes that resist healing are also associated with decreased peripheral blood flow and often resist current therapies. Normal wounds, without underlying pathological defects heal readily, but the healing deficiency of diabetic wounds can be attributed to a number of factors, including decreased production of growth factors and reduced revascularisation.

“The transplantation of EPCs derived from human umbilical blood cells accelerated wound closure in diabetic mice from the earliest point,” said Dr. Suh. “Enhanced re-epithelialisation (growth of protective skin cells) made a great contribution in accelerating wound closure rates.”

Experts say this study opens the possibility of the future clinical use of endothelial progenitor cells derived from cord blood in the treatment of diabetic wounds. To read more, click here.

A clinical trial currently awaiting approval will mean that children suffering from cerebral palsy like Zac and Maia won’t have to travel to the United States for treatment with their own cord blood.

As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, researchers at Melbourne’s Monash Medical Centre are currently awaiting approval to start a clinical trial to offer cord blood treatment for cerebral palsy to children from Australia and New Zealand with the intent of proving that umbilical cord blood can cure and relieve the symptoms of cerebral palsy. This follows on from Professor Kurtzberg’s work, which whilst anecdotally very successful, published no scientific data, so the Australian study aims to create proof.

The treatment to reinfuse cord blood stem cells into children with cerebral palsy was pioneered by Professor Joanna Kurtzberg of North Carolina’s Duke University and has helped over 250 children over the last 5 years. New Zealander Maia Friedlander received treatment in 2008 and is now living a full life free from many of the symptoms her brain injury resulting from oxygen deprivation at birth left her with. Another Kiwi child has successfully received treatment and a third is currently seeking treatment.

When 5 year old Australian child, Zac Archer suffered a stroke at 4 months of age, he was left with profound cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

In a twist of fate, Zac’s mum Gabrielle had donated his cord blood to a public blood bank in Australia. Remarkably, it was still in storage when they discovered the possibility of Zac receiving treatment at Duke University in the US, following in the footsteps of two other Kiwi children whose brain injuries were also successfully treated with their stored cord blood.

Zac’s family travelled to the States earlier this year to receive the treatment and are thrilled with his progress. His right side has greatly improved movement, and his seizures – which peaked at a horrifying 100 per day – are down to 20 partial seizures per day.

All Gabrielle ever wanted was for Zac to be happy and find his place in the world. Comparing him to other children with cerebral palsy, she knows he is a highly functional child who can run and talk.

”When we found out about this procedure, the fact that we had his cord blood stored, we just couldn’t overlook it,” she says. ”There’s a possibility this might improve something for Zac. I think any parent would do it. Even if it’s just that slightest improvement, anything is a bonus.” Click here to read the full article as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Researchers from the University of South Florida and their private sector collaborators say transplanting stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood may offer future therapeutic benefit for those suffering the degenerative and ultimately fatal Alzheimer’s disease, which affects around 43,000 New Zealanders. Those figures are projected to double in the next 15 years, and to continue doubling every 20 years thereafter.

“Umbilical cord blood cells are relatively easy to obtain, appear to be able to differentiate into many kinds of cells, and are immunologically immature, offering them the potential to promote cell survival rather than play a cell replacement role when transplanted,” said Dr. Paul Sanberg, distinguished university professor and executive director of the Center of Excellence on Aging and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida.

One of the major causes of Alzheimer’s is deposits of amyloid beta (AB), a chemical that activates the immune response in the brain which leads to inflammation.

“It is likely that umbilical cord blood can modify this inflammatory response and provide beneficial effects in animal models of Alzheimer’s,” said Dr Jun Tan, professor of psychiatry and Robert A. Silver chair at the Rashid Laboratory for Developmental Neurobiology, USF Silver Child Development Center who recently completed a study in which the brain-to-blood clearance of AB was demonstrated. Based on the findings of this research, Dr. Tan is developing clinical protocols.

Umbilical cord blood cells transplanted into animal victims of Alzheimer’s have demonstrated their therapeutic potential for reducing inflammation, which prevents neurons in the brain from communicating properly.

“Our immediate goal is to move our beneficial findings with cord blood cells into clinical trials for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Tan. To read more about the study, click here.

Eminent neuroscientist Dr Wise Young delivered hope to practitioners and patients alike during his visit to New Zealand recently to raise awareness regarding his clinical trials treating spinal cord injury.

Young is the founding director of the W M Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In the US, Dr Young is also well known as the doctor who worked with the late actor Christopher Reeve (Superman) who became quadriplegic in 1995.

Since 2007, Dr Young has been leading a 25 centre trial in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan using umbilical cord blood and lithium to regenerate the spinal cord.

Young says his research will bring hope to sufferers of spinal cord injuries whom to date, medicine has not been able to treat in any meaningful way. “It’s achievable not just within our lifetime, but within a few years,” said Young. “I believe we can fix a person enough so that someone who doesn’t know them wouldn’t know that that person has a spinal cord injury. To me that’s a cure!”

This fascinating work has the potential to give tens of thousands of people worldwide a full life, and is just one of the leaps forward science is making in the field of umbilical cord stem cell research.