Showing posts with label stemcellar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stemcellar. Show all posts

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Two Rounds of Transplants, 70 Drugs: An Advocate's Journey into Stem Cell Safety

Lukas Wartman
Science magazine, Whitney Curtis photo
The California stem cell agency today related a compelling story concerning a physician named Lukas Wartman who received "a life-saving stem cell treatment that is now threatening his health."

The headline on the item on the agency's blog, The Stem Cellar, said,
"One man’s journey with leukemia has turned into a quest to make bone marrow stem cell transplants safer"
Karen Ring, a scientist herself and overseer of social media at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), wrote about the case after she read an article by Jon Cohen in Science Magazine concerning Wartman. He is a physician at the Washington University School of Medicine. Ring wrote,
"He was first diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2003. Since then he has taken over 70 drugs and undergone two rounds of bone marrow stem cell transplants to fight off his cancer."
The first transplant came from his brother but the second round was from an unrelated donor and was different. Ring said, 
"While the second transplant and cancer-fighting drugs have succeeded in keeping his cancer at bay, Wartman is now suffering from something equally life threatening – a condition called graft vs host disease (GVHD). In a nut shell, the stem cell transplant that cured him of cancer and saved his life is now attacking his body."
Ring discussed the currently available treatments and continued, 
"Another promising therapy is called Prochymal. It’s a stem cell therapy developed by former CIRM President and CEO, Dr. Randy Mills, at Osiris Therapeutics. Prochymal is already approved to treat the acute form of GVHD in Canada, and is currently being tested in phase 3 trials in the US in young children and adults.
"While CIRM isn’t currently funding clinical trials for GVHD, we are funding a ($20 million) trial out of Stanford University led by Dr. Judy Shizuru that aims to improve the outcome of bone marrow stem cell transplants in patients. Shizuru says that these transplants are “the most powerful form of cell therapy out there, for cancers or deficiencies in blood formation” but they come with their own set of potentially deadly side effects such as GVHD."
Ring said that Wartman's battle with the disease has made him "one of the strongest patient voices advocating for new treatments" for his affliction. Ring said Wartman is an inspiration to funding agencies and other scientists. She said,
"We don’t want these patients to suffer quietly. Wartman’s story is an important reminder that there’s a lot more work to do to make bone marrow transplants safer – so that they save lives without later putting those lives at risk."

Monday, February 22, 2016

Cancer and Stem Cells: A Look at the Safety of iPS cells

The safety of reprogrammed adult stem cells was much in the news during the past few days as a result of work at the Scripps Research Institute that was funded by California’s $3 billion stem cell agency.

The press release from Scripps triggered a spate of stories quoting Jeanne Loring, who led the work. The Scripps release said,
“A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) shows that the act of creating pluripotent stem cells for clinical use is unlikely to pass on cancer-causing mutations to patients.
“The research, published February 19, 2016, in the journal Nature Communications, is an important step in assessing patient safety in the rapidly developing field of stem cell therapies.”
The stem cell agency took a deep dive into the research today on its blog, The Stem Cellar, by Karen Ring, a former stem cell researcher who is the agency’s web site and social media manager. Ring wrote,
“It’s good news that reprogramming methods are relatively safe, but the fact that maintaining and expanding iPS cells in culture causes cancerous mutations is still a major issue that scientists need to address.
“Jeanne Loring recognizes this important issue and says that the next steps are to use similar genomic analyses to assess the safety of reprogrammed iPS cells before they are used in patients.”
Scripps’ press release reported that funds from five different stem cell agency grants were used in the research. Additional funds were also provided by a variety of sources.

Search This Blog