Stem Cells in the News

Advances in hematopoietic stem cell research are being made every day which may make the availability of cord blood even more important to a family. Today, there are numerous life threatening diseases that are treatable with cord blood stem cells and a family's access to a stored cord blood specimen will reduce the time between diagnosis and treatment significantly. Additional research has demonstrated that leukemia patients treated with sibling cord blood stem cells resulted in far fewer cases of both chronic and acute graft versus host disease as compared with bone marrow from a sibling with the same tissue type. Cord blood is now considered the therapy of choice for treating children with leukemia.

Promising studies are occurring for heart disease and Type 1 Diabetes at the University of Florida and recent clinical trials for brain injury at Duke University have shown some extraordinary results. Further, cord blood stem cell therapy, developed at the University of Minnesota, has cured a boy's fatal disease epidermolysis bullosa.

The articles included here are examples of cord blood research and clinical trials advancing the state of medical care for chronic and often fatal medical conditions in children. Click on the title to view the full article.

First NZ Child Treated with Her Own Cord Blood. Scoop Independent News. December 2, 2008

A young Auckland girl has become the first New Zealander to undergo a ground-breaking umbilical cord blood treatment for a birth-related brain injury. Four-year-old Maia Friedlander was treated with her own cord blood at Duke University, North Carolina, OSA in August 2008 and her parents say the results over the past 12 weeks have been extraordinary. View the video at www.cordbank.co.nz.

Umbilical Cord Blood May Help Build new Heart Valves. Science Daily. November 10, 2008

Children with heart defects may someday receive perfectly-matched new heart valves built using stem cells from their umbilical cord blood, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

Cord Blood Stem Cells Reverse Girl's Cerebral Palsy. Fox News. July 28, 2008

At 12 months, a CAT scan showed a portion of the left side of Chloe's brain had not developed and contained fluid. The toddler was diagnosed with right-side hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Two months ago, Chloe, 2, received an infusion of her own stem cells and her progress is remarkable, said her father, Ryan Levine.

University of Minnesota Sets Course For Cure of Fatal Childhood Skin Disease. UMN Website. June 3, 2008

Using stem cells from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, researchers, led by Dr John Wagner at University of Minnesota, have apparently cured a fatal genetic disease (epidermolysis bullosa) in a 2-year-old Minneapolis boy, which could open the door for other stem cell treatments. For more information on the clinical trial please visit: www.ahc.umn.edu/eb

Lifetime Probability of Needing a Stem Cell Transplant is Much Higher Than Previously Reported, Data Shows. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. March 2008.

BROOKVILLE, Md. - New data published in the March issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation indicate the probability of an individual in the U.S. needing a stem cell transplant, using either one's own stem cells or those from a donor, is much higher than previously stated. This new research says that as many as 1 in 200 people will receive a stem cell transplant during their lifetime, based on current therapeutic use of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells.

Cord Blood May Preserve Insulin Levels in Children with Type 1 Diabetes. University of Florida Health Science Center News & Communications. June 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Umbilical cord blood may safely preserve insulin production in children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, according to findings from a small national pilot study presented today (June 25) at the American Diabetes Association's 67th Scientific Sessions in Chicago.

Umbilical Cord Beats Marrow for Leukemia Transplants. Health Day News. June 8, 2007

Transplanted blood cells from umbilical cords appear to give better results than the bone marrow transplants that have been standard for leukemia patients, a new study finds. "From my point of view, it now demonstrates that cord blood can be considered a first-line therapy and not an afterthought," said lead researcher Dr. John E. Wagner, director of the bone marrow transplant program at the University of Minnesota. His team published its finding in the June 9 issue of The Lancet.

CorCell, a Cord Blood America Company, Announces First Autologous Cord Blood Transplant for Childhood Leukemia Worldwide

Los Angeles, CA and Philadelphia, PA (January 3, 2007) - CorCell, a Cord Blood America, Inc. (OTC BB:CBAI) company, today announced that cord blood collected and stored by one of its private, family customers was used in what is believed to be the first autologous cord blood transplant for childhood leukemia anywhere in the world. More than two years after transplantation with her own cord blood she is still free of leukemia at age 6. Autologous cord blood is that collected from a baby?s umbilical cord and for use specifically for that child.

"This is the first time we have evidence that umbilical cord blood (UCB) can be used in an autologous transplant to treat childhood leukemia," states Jack Goldberg, MD, CorCell Medical Director and Chief of Hematology Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, PennPresbyterian. The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics released the report, "First Report of Autologous Cord Blood Transplantation in the Treatment of a Child with Leukemia," in Pediatrics 2007; 119: 296-300 on January 3, 2007.

Stem Cells May Reprogram Malignant Cells.. Stem Cell Business News, Volume 5, No. 3, p 2, February 6, 2006

On February 1, 2006, Scottsdale, AZ-based company, Medistem Laboratories, Inc. announced it had acquired worldwide rights to a potential cancer treatment using stem cells to reprogram cancer cells. The patent pending technology may lead to the development of anticancer treatments for some of the most serious cancers by reprogramming malignant cells to behave like normal cells. "While chemotherapy and radiation therapy include sever side effects through collateral damage to non-cancerous cells and organs, the present invention utilizes the ability of cancer cells to be 'reprogrammed' into begin, non-cancerous progeny", said Dr. Thomas Ichim, the inventor and a Medistem consultant.

Medistem's CEO Neil Riordan, PhD stated, "It is an example of the promise of stem cell-based technology to enable the creation of medical therapies that could revolutionize the treatment of cancer and other serious medical conditions." This technology would induce cancer cells to differentiate into begin, non-malignant cells. And, the patent pending pertains specifically to the use of stem cells from umbilical cords and placentas.

Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2003. 108th Congress 1st Session. H.R. 2852

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network to prepare, store, and distribute human umbilical cord blood stem cells for the treatment of patients and to support peer-reviewed research using such cells.

Expansion of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells. CorCell 2003

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a valuable, yet limited resource. When used in treatment the following applies: The greater the number of stem cells used, the better the prospects for healing. Currently, this is the reason the entire umbilical cord blood specimen is always used in transplantation. Scientists are conducting research on the expansion of stem cells to increase treatment applications. This means that specimens which today are too small for transplantation could then be used by increasing the number of stem cells.

Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation: New Frontiers. Fairview-University Blood and Marrow Transplant Services. Accessed 9-17-03.

In summary, the demonstration that cell dose is the most important factor influencing outcome has led university physicians to develop new approaches to expand the stem cell pool either by expansion in the laboratory prior to transplantation, expansion by mixing two UCB units, or by expansion in the patient by co-infusing healthy stroma from one of the parents. While none of these approaches has been proven, support by the Children's Cancer Research Fund has been instrumental in allowing the development of new treatments with the ultimate goal of improving the rate of cure in children and adults with life-threatening diseases.

Prometheus's Vulture and the Stem-Cell Promise. Nadia Rosenthal, Ph.D. New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 349:267-274. July 17, 2003. Number 3.

An understanding of the plasticity of adult stem cells initially grew from observations that donor cells were found in nonhematopoietic tissues in the recipients of bone marrow transplants. Accounts of the repopulation of adult organs by stem cells derived from bone marrow have since flooded the literature, suggesting that under the right conditions, these rare cells can contribute to virtually any type of tissue. As proof of principle, a lone hematopoietic stem cell, genetically marked and mixed with unmarked bone marrow, was injected into a mouse that had received a lethal dose of radiation. Several weeks later, the marked descendants of that stem cell were found in multiple tissues, attesting to the plasticity of bone marrow precursors.

Augmentation of umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation with ex vivo–expanded UCB cells: results of a phase 1 trial using the AastromReplicell System. Jaroscak, et al. Blood. 15 June 2003, volume 101, Number 12.

Clinical-scale ex vivo expansion of UCB is feasible, and the administration of ex vivo-expanded cells is well tolerated. Augmentation of UCB transplants with ex vivo-expanded cells did not alter the time to myeloid, erythroid, or platelet engraftment in 21 evaluable patients. Recipients of ex vivo-expanded cells continue to have durable engraftment with a median follow-up of 47 months (range, 41-51 months).

High efficiency recovery of functional hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells from human cord blood cryopreserved for 15 years. Broxmeyer, et al. PNAS. January 21, 2003. Vol. 100. No. 2.

Transplanted cord blood (CB) hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and progenitor cells (HPC) can treat malignant and nonmalignant disorders. Because long-term cryopreservation is critical for CB banking and transplantation, we assessed the efficiency of recovery of viable HSC_HPC from individual CBs stored frozen for 15 yrs.

A Case For Stem Cells. Sheehe. George Washington University Medical Center Medicine and Health Magazine. 14 – 21. Winter 2003.

Regardless of what happens with embryonic stem cells, Dr. McCaffrey's own work and that of others at GW Medical Center help illustrate just how powerful adult stem cells continue to be as a tool in regenerative medicine. Compared to embryonic stem cells, the lack of research restrictions on human adult stem cells makes them an attractive subject for study; and the reduced risk of tumor growth and immune rejection augur well for clinical applications.

Searching for Unrelated Donor Hematopoietic Stem Cells: Availability and Speed of Umbilical Cord Blood versus Bone Marrow. Juliet N. Barker, et al. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. 8: 257-260. 2002.

Unrelated donor (URD) umbilical cord blood (UCB) has several potential advantages over URD bone marrow (BM) for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. To examine the efficiency of donor identification for each of these URD stem cell sources, we reviewed the search processes for all pediatric and adult URD transplantation referrals to the University of Minnesota during a period of 1 year. These data confirm that the availability of banked cryopreserved URD UCB grafts allows transplantations for patients with no available BM donor and that URD UCB grafts are available considerably faster than are URD BM grafts.

Tissue engineering with bone marrow and cord blood grows heart parts. American Heart Association. Top 10 research advances for 2001. #4. December 21, 2001.

The researchers concluded that human umbilical cord blood is a valuable source of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), providing novel cells for tissue engineering. The exciting possibilities for this cell source include "banking" the cells for future use. Cord blood cells could potentially be used to create a tissue-engineered structure needed to correct a cardiac birth defect diagnosed prenatally. The new tissue could be ready to use when the baby is born - or even before birth for potential prenatal/fetal surgical repair.

Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Children Who Have Received a Cord-Blood or Bone Marrow Transplant from an HLA-Identical Sibling. Vanderson Rocha, M.D., John E. Wagner, M.D. et al. New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 342:1846-1854. June 22, 2000. Number 25.

In conclusion, children who received cord-blood transplants from HLA-identical siblings had a lower risk of acute and chronic GVHD and longer times to neutrophil and platelet recovery than children who received bone marrow transplants from HLA-identical siblings. These results justify the systematic collection of cord blood in families with a child affected by a disease that can be treated successfully by allogeneic transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells. The results also support further exploration of cord blood as a source of stem cells for transplants from unrelated donors.