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New therapies offer promise for patients, say researchers at SNM's 55th Annual Meeting, June 14-18 NEW ORLEANS, La.—Using noninvasive molecular imaging technology, a method has been developed to track the location and activity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the tumors of living organisms, according to researchers at SNM's 55th Annual Meeting. This ability could lead to major advances in the use of stem cell therapies to treat cancer.  "Stem cell cancer therapies are still in the early stages of development, but they offer great promise in delivering personalized medicine that will fight disease at the cellular level," said Hui...

Songtao Shi along with other researchers at the University of Southern California have been conducting experiments utilizing stem cells to grow bone and skin. Shi's newest results could literally change the way cosmetic surgery is performed throughout the world. Shi conducts research in the USC's Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology. Working together with scientists at dental schools in China and Korea, Shi has discovered that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to grow bone and tissue as demonstrated in swine and mouse subjects. Although the studies are still in their early stages, the research published in the Stem Cells'...

StemCellPatents.com (www.stemcellpatents.com), an organization dedicated to dissemination of stem cell patent information, congratulates the Institute of Cellular Medicine (www.cellmedicine.com) for publishing the first peer reviewed paper describing a novel approach for utilizing stem cell therapy for the treatment of autism.  “The published proposal to leverage mesenchymal stem cells to ameliorate the intestinal inflammatory state found in the majority of autistic children, combined with administration of ex vivo expanded CD34 cells for overcoming hypoperfusion in various areas of the brain is of great interest to the stem cell community,“ said Dr. Zhaohui Zhong, Chairman of StemCellPatents.com. The paper entitled “Stem Cell...

Turning Stem Cells Taken From Fat Tissue Into Personalized, Cancer-targeted Therapeutics Researchers in Slovakia have been able to derive mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose, or fat, tissue and engineer them into "suicide genes" that seek out and destroy tumors like tiny homing missiles. This gene therapy approach is a novel way to attack small tumor metastases that evade current detection techniques and treatments, the researchers conclude in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "These fat-derived stem cells could be exploited for personalized cell-based therapeutics," said the study's lead investigator,...

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2007;89:74-81. doi:10.2106/JBJS.E.01396  © 2007 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Letters to the Editor: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Chong, A. K.S. Articles by Lim, B....

LONDON, March 29 - The day may be coming when stem cells help arthritis patients repair their own joints. Cultured adult human periosteal stem cells demonstrate mesenchymal multipotency, suggesting that they may be used to repair tissue and joint damage associated with arthritis, researchers here reported. Upon enzymatic release and culture expansion, cells harvested from the periosteum can "give rise to cartilage and bone," wrote Cosimo De Bari, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues at King's College London in the April issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Moreover, the cells differentiated into chondrocyte, osteoblast, adipocyte and myocyte lineages regardless of donor age. Although...

Rush cardiologists are hoping that transplanted stem cells can regenerate damaged heart muscle in those who experience a first heart attack. The study involves an intravenous infusion of adult mesenchymal stem cells from healthy donor bone marrow that might possibly reverse damage to heart tissue. A unique benefit of the stem cell product is that it is given to patients through a standard IV line. Other therapies require delivery to the site of the disease through catheterization or open surgical procedures, but this one is very simple and easy for the patient. “A person who has had a single, severe...