Stem cell therapy forges ahead

In several countries outside the US, 2006 may be a banner year for modern regenerative medicine. In India, a major leader in the field, the treatment of heart disease will be studied. While this study involves adult stem cells, India has also approved embryonic stem cell research, which is noteworthy in a country with strong religious leanings. Perhaps from the Hindu perspective, sacrificing an embryo guarantees the soul that would have resided there an even better incarnation as a reward for advancing medical science. In Canada, a company is entering phase 2 trials on a drug that increases the patient's own stem cells in the brain as a stroke treatment. Here in the US, a novel procedure that involves stem cells appears to permanently reverse the autoimmunity of lupus. The procedure is fairly dangerous (on par with cancer chemotherapy) and controversial, however it is promising enough that recruitment is underway for more Lupus studies as well as a number of other AI diseases, including Rheumatoid Arthritis, Type I Diabetes and Pemphigus (a life threatening skin disorder). Anne Leonard provides links to all these studies in a recent post in her Stem Cell Research Progress Blog. Of note here is that in all cases, the therapy involves adult stem cells, thus avoiding the ethical issues around so-called embryonic stem cells. With all this work being done, it looks as if success or failure and possibly a new era of medicine is literally right on the horizon.