Cord Blood Effective for Adult Leukemia - Studies
Two new studies have demonstrated that stem cells found in cord blood can be used to effectively treat adults with leukemia. Although both studies noted that the immune system does take longer to rebuild after a cord blood stem cell transplant, there is a lower risk of a patient experiencing graft-versus-host-disease (where the body rejects the transplant) when a transplant is done with cord blood. Researchers also found that having one or two mismatched antigens did not affect the results as much as a mismatched bone marrow transplant. Although there is some concern that the number of stem cells found in cord blood is not sufficient to treat all adults, early trials are showing that it is possible to transplant two different cord blood samples into people with positive results. Because cord blood is much easier to collect than bone marrow, experts are hopeful that these findings will double or triple the number of people getting an unrelated transplant (stem cells from someone that is not a relative).
Source: Gene Emery, ReutersNovember 23, 2004
Stem-Cell Researchers Hope For Deafness Cure Within 15 Years
Researchers at Sheffield University in England have begun experimenting with embryonic stem cells in the hopes of growing new inner ear cells. They hope their efforts will lead to a cure for deafness in 10 or 15 years. They have already undertaken ten months of research during which time they have found that stem cells taken from the sensory nerves could be transplanted and regrown in damaged areas thus giving the researchers hope that hearing could possibly be restored. The team hopes to start animal testing within two years and, if all goes well, then human trials would commence within four years. This news follows last months announcement by a team of Canadian researchers who believed that a cure for blindness may be found by taking stem cells from the back of the eye to repair vision.
Source: John Innes, Soctsman.com
