Posted on 06/29/2008 7:00:57 PM PDT by Coleus
Scientists to issue stem-cell guide
Their goal is to keep people desperate for treatment from falling prey to quacks.
The world's leading group of stem-cell researchers yesterday announced it would issue guidelines for turning basic stem-cell research into safe, effective therapies. The International Society for Stem Cell Research's recommendations are aimed at halting "stem-cell tourism" - the growing parade of patients traveling to developing countries for costly, unproven and potentially harmful stem-cell treatments. "They're basically selling the 'snake oil' we've seen in medical fraud for many centuries," George Q. Daley, president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), said at a news conference yesterday.
The group, holding its annual meeting at the Philadelphia Convention Center, had planned to release a draft of the guidelines. But the authors decided at the last minute to make revisions - a sign of the complexity and sensitivity of the subject. "We've gotten so much input, we decided it would be premature," said Olle Lindvall, a neurologist at Lund University in Sweden and chair of the guideline task force. Whether potential stem-cell tourists would be swayed by guidelines remains to be seen.
Lora Lowery of Carneys Point, N.J., searched for clinical trials - carefully controlled experiments approved by the U.S. government - for her baby son, Justin, who was born blind because of underdeveloped optic nerves. When she found nothing, she began investigating stem-cell enterprises that have sprung up in China, Mexico, India, Peru, Russia and elsewhere.
'Taking a risk'
She and her husband, Jason, opted for Beike Biotechnology Co. in China. All told, they spent $70,000, including $20,000 for the umbilical-cord blood stem-cell infusions. "If there had been guidelines, it might have made a little difference to me, but it wouldn't have made me not want to do it," Lowery said. "We knew we were taking a risk." To some degree, whatever guidelines the ISSCR comes up with will cover familiar ground. The Food and Drug Administration already has rules for turning basic research into safe, effective therapies through clinical trials. So do most developing countries, although enforcement may be lax. Many advocacy groups also offer patient guidelines.
But existing rules were written before the world got excited about stem cells, the progenitor cells that make and fix all the tissues of the body. Stem-cell research has exploded since 1998, when embryonic stem cells - the most versatile, powerful kind - were first isolated by destroying five-day-old embryos. So-called adult stem cells, which renew specific tissues, have since proved to be remarkably versatile as well.
Years away
Still, while stem cells are not snake oil, their therapeutic use remains years away. The only proven treatments are for blood disorders, certain cancers, and rare immune deficiencies. The few clinical trials in Western countries are mostly for treatable problems such as heart disease. "There is a risk that patients who are desperate will misunderstand the amount of progress in the field," said Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston. "It is fertile ground for exploitation."
That ground includes the United States. In 2006, a federal grand jury indicted a man and woman for stem-cell treatment fraud; they relocated to South Africa and changed their company's name to Advanced Cell Therapeutics. The long list of conditions that stem-cell purveyors purport to treat - including Parkinson's, stroke, autism and paralysis - is a classic sign of quackery, critics say.
Critics also condemn the lack of published studies or data on the treatments. So not only are potential ill effects unclear, critics say, it's also impossible to judge whether some interventions actually work in some cases. The Lowerys - and their doctor, Jonathan Salvin - have seen significant improvement in Justin, now 13 months old. For example, he tracks toys and other objects with his eyes. Lora Lowery attributes it to the stem-cell treatment. Salvin says there is no way to know.
"I'd be cautiously optimistic that maybe this is from the [stem cell] protocol," said Salvin, a pediatric ophthalmologist at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children. "But I have seen improvement like this in kids who haven't had this protocol."
Cancers:
Brain Cancer
Retinoblastoma
Ovarian Cancer
Skin Cancer: Merkel Cell Carcinoma
Testicular Cancer
Tumors abdominal organs Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma
Hodgkins Lymphoma
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia
Cancer of the lymph nodes: Angioimmunoblastic Lymphadenopathy
Multiple Myeloma
Myelodysplasia
Breast Cancer
Neuroblastoma
Renal Cell Carcinoma
Various Solid Tumors
Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Ewings Sarcoma
Waldenstroms macroglobulinemia
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
POEMS syndrome
Myelofibrosis
Auto-Immune Diseases
Diabetes Type I (Juvenile)
Systemic Lupus
Sjogrens Syndrome
Myasthenia
Autoimmune Cytopenia
Scleromyxedema
Scleroderma
Crohns Disease
Behcets Disease
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Juvenile Arthritis
Multiple Sclerosis
Polychondritis
Systemic Vasculitis
Alopecia Universalis
Buergers Disease
Cardiovascular
Acute Heart Damage
Chronic Coronary Artery Disease
Ocular
Corneal regeneration
Immunodeficiencies
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome
X-linked Lymphoproliferative Syndrome
X-linked Hyper immunoglobulin M Syndrome
Neural Degenerative Diseases and Injuries
Parkinsons Disease
Spinal Cord Injury
Stroke Damage
Anemias and Other Blood Conditions
Sickle Cell Anemia
Sideroblastic Anemia
Aplastic Anemia
Red Cell Aplasia
Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
Thalassemia
Primary Amyloidosis
Diamond Blackfan Anemia
Fanconis Anemia
Chronic Epstein-Barr Infection
Wounds and Injuries
Limb Gangrene
Surface Wound Healing
Jawbone Replacement
Skull Bone Repair
Other Metabolic Disorders
Hurlers Syndrome
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Krabbe Leukodystrophy
Osteopetrosis
Cerebral X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy
Liver Disease
Chronic Liver Failure
Liver Cirrhosis
Bladder Disease
End-Stage Bladder Disease
But “Still, while stem cells are not snake oil, their therapeutic use remains years away.”
Time sure passes fast!
All the articles on adult stem cells help get the news out. Thanks.
There's no doubt in my mind that there is a concerted (and, sadly, successful) effort to conflate the two to DELIBERATELY hide the failure of ESC treatment behind the success of ASC treatment.
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