Every year, about 10,000 people in the U.S. need a stem cell transplant but cant find a donor.

The intense medical procedure, which can help those with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood diseases, can save lives but securing a donor can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Be The Match is a nonprofit, national registry where people can sign up to donate their stem cells. More than 35 million people around the world have volunteered yet only a small percentage of those donors are Americans, and even the registry admits most Americans dont know it exists.

The mother of a 12-year-old boy with leukemia has set out to change that.

Mandy Goldman is a hairdresser who lives with her husband and four children outside Boston. She remembers the devastating day five years ago when doctors told her the chemotherapy they gave her son Mateo Goldman, 9 years old at the time, didnt work.

They told us that our only option of curing Mateo was a bone marrow transplant, she says, a risky procedure that often involves a host of complications. But they had no other choice, she says.

The family got to work on the monumental task finding Mateo Goldman a close enough match.

Linda Matchan first reported the Goldman familys experience for The Boston Globe. In her research, she found very, very few people had any awareness of the need for bone marrow and stem cells donors. The awareness campaign around the subject is severely lacking compared to other campaigns like the importance of donating blood, she says.

For example, there's a little boy right now in North Carolina named Thor Forte, who's 10 and has sickle cell disease. And he has been waiting for literally half his life, five years, for a donor to be available, Matchan says. He's a tough match, but they finally did find somebody. And then when the time came for the procedure, the person backed out. So two years later, the boy is still waiting.

Fortunately, quickly after finding out Mateo Goldman didnt match with anyone in his family, he was paired with a donor on the registry from Germany. Mandy Goldman says Laura Stterlin of Frankfurt was ready to go and donate, ultimately saving her son.

Mateo Goldman wrote Stterlin, whose name he did not know at the time, a thank you note reading: Dear Donor, thank you for giving me the bone marrow. You feel like youre already part of my family, he says.

And unlike usual Make-A-Wish requests, Mateo Goldman asked to meet Stterlin in person halfway across the world. The trip to Germany was planned for summer of 2020 but has since been canceled due to the pandemic.

In 2019 when she was reporting this story, Matchan had a trip planned to Germany. She ended up meeting Stterlin and hearing the story of how she became a donor. Stterlin said she was at a sporting event with her husband when she got hungry and went on the hunt for some grub.

Dear Donor, thank you for giving me the bone marrow. You feel like youre already part of my family.

Germany has a robust public service campaign to get citizens to donate bone marrow, Matchan says. So it came to no surprise to Stterlin when she came across a kiosk to sign up.

Just three months later, she got a call and an email from the registry saying that there is somebody in the United States for whom she could be a match and was asked if she would donate, Matchan says. A couple of days later, she went into the hospital and did the donation.

Stterlins stem cells then crossed the Atlantic Ocean, making their way to America during a snowstorm.

The cells started working in Mateo Goldman right away but not without some difficulties, Mandy Goldman says. He battled total body stiffness from graft-versus-host disease, a complication of the transplant.

But, you know, Matteo's an amazing kid, she says, so through it all, he was smiling and making the best of it, even though he was suffering for a lot of the time.

Two years later, in July of 2020, the cancer came back. But since Mateo Goldmans first transplant, the science had evolved greatly.

So much so that his older brother, Leo Goldman, became a candidate to donate his cells for the second stem cell transplant.

I didn't realize how I could get my brother's cells, Mateo Goldman, now 12 years old, says. Once that sank in, I felt that it would connect me and my brother more.

Right before Christmas last year, the family got extraordinary news: Mateo Goldman had zero cancer in his bone marrow, Mandy Goldman says.

Now the mom of four is on a mission to raise awareness on stem cell donations and share the story of how it saved her sons life.

The amazing feeling Leo got from being able to be the person who saved his brother's life is something he's going to carry with him forever, she says. And even Laura [Stterlin], she gave him three and a half years of his life that we get to spend with him. I just really want to educate people about how empowering it is to do something so incredible for somebody else.

When she started talking to others to raise awareness, she was shocked to discover how fearful people were in committing to be a donor.

If people could see the trauma these patients go through her son had a drain placed in his stomach, total body radiation, chemotherapy that left him head-to-toe in a skin-burning rash she says then maybe they wouldnt be scared to dedicate a small action for someone whose only cure is through a stem cell transplant.

Once people are educated about how much of a difference it makes, she says, then I feel like they would do it.

Click here to learn more about the Be The Match Registry.

Tinku Rayproduced and edited this interview for broadcast.Serena McMahonadapted it for the web.

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After Bone Marrow Donation Saves 9-Year-Old Boy With Cancer, Boston Mom Fights To Raise Awareness - Here And Now

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on After Bone Marrow Donation Saves 9-Year-Old Boy With Cancer, Boston Mom Fights To Raise Awareness – Here And Now | February 6th, 2021

Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood. The two most common types in children are acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia.

In a person with leukemia, blood cells are released into the bloodstream before they are fully formed, so there are fewer healthy blood cells in the body.

Below, we describe the types of childhood leukemia, the symptoms, and the treatments. We then look at when to contact a doctor, what questions to ask, and where to find support.

Childhood leukemia is the most common form of cancer in children. It affects up to 3,800 children under the age of 15 in the United States each year.

Leukemia occurs when bone marrow releases new blood cells into the bloodstream before they are fully mature.

These immature blood cells do not function as they should, and eventually, the number of immature cells overtakes the number of healthy ones.

Leukemia can affect red and white blood cells and platelets.

The bone marrow produces stem cells. A blood stem cell can become a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell.

Lymphoid stem cells become white blood cells. Myeloid stem cells can become:

Leukemia is typically acute or chronic, and chronic types are rare in children. They can include chronic myeloid leukemia or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Most childhood leukemias are acute, meaning that they progress quickly and need treatment as soon as possible.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type in children, accounting for 75% of childhood leukemia cases.

It affects cells called lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.

In a person with ALL, the bone marrow releases a large number of underdeveloped white blood cells called blast cells. As the number of these increases, the number of red blood cells and platelets decreases.

There are two subtypes of ALL: B-cell and T-cell.

In most childhood cases of ALL, the cancer develops in the early forms of B-cells. The other type, T-cell ALL, typically affects older children.

Research from 2020 reports that the majority of people diagnosed with ALL are under 18 and typically between 2 and 10 years old.

The American Cancer Society report that children under 5 years old have the highest risk of developing ALL and that this risk slowly declines until a person reaches their mid-20s.

The outlook for ALL depends on the subtype, the persons age, and factors specific to each person.

Myeloid leukemias account for approximately 20% of childhood leukemia cases, and most myeloid leukemias are acute.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) affects white blood cells other than the lymphocytes. It may also affect red blood cells and platelets.

AML can begin in:

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) accounts for approximately 12% of leukemia cases in children.

This rare type is neither acute nor chronic. JMML begins in the myeloid cells, and it typically affects children younger than 2 years.

Symptoms can include:

The symptoms of leukemia may be nonspecific similar to those of other common childhood illnesses.

A doctor will ask how long the child has been experiencing the symptoms, which can include:

Children may experience specific symptoms depending on the type of blood cell that the leukemia is affecting.

A low number of red blood cells can cause:

A low number of healthy white blood cells can cause infections or a fever with no other sign of an infection.

A low platelet count can cause:

Various factors can increase a childs risk of leukemia, and most are not preventable.

The following genetic conditions can increase the risk of leukemia:

Also, having a sibling with leukemia may increase the risk of developing it.

These can include exposure to:

If a child has symptoms that might indicate leukemia, a doctor may perform or request:

A bone marrow aspiration involves using a syringe to take a liquid sample of bone marrow cells. The doctor may give the child a drug that allows them to sleep through this test.

During the diagnostic process, a person might ask:

The doctor may recommend a variety of treatments for childhood leukemia, and the best option depends on a range of factors specific to each person.

The treatment usually consists of two phases. The first aims to kill the leukemia cells in the childs bone marrow, and the second aims to prevent the cancer from coming back.

The child may need:

Before or during treatment, a person might ask the doctor:

Questions to ask after the treatment might include:

Children who have undergone leukemia treatments require follow-up care, as the treatments often cause late effects.

These can develop in anyone who has received treatment for cancer, and they may not arise for months or years after the treatment has ended.

Treatments that can cause late effects include:

These complications may affect:

The late effects that may come can also depend on the type of treatment and the form of leukemia.

Because many leukemia symptoms can also indicate other issues, it can be hard to know when to contact a doctor.

Overall, it is best to seek medical advice if a child shows symptoms or behaviors that are not normal for them.

If a child has received a leukemia diagnosis, the effects can extend to parents, other family members, caregivers, and friends.

A person can find support and additional resources from:

The following organizations based in the United Kingdom also provide support and guidance:

Childhood leukemia can affect mental health, as well as physical health.

Learn more about mental health resources here.

According to the American Cancer Society, most children with leukemia have no known risk factors. There is no way to prevent leukemia from developing.

Because there are very few lifestyle-related or environmental causes of childhood leukemia, it is very unlikely that a caregiver can do anything to help prevent the disease.

A childs outlook depends on the type of leukemia. It is important to keep in mind that current estimates do not take into account recent advances in technology and medicine.

For example, the most recent 5-year survival rate estimates reflect the experiences of children who received their diagnoses and treatments more than 5 years ago.

The American Cancer Society report that the 5-year survival rate for children with ALL is 90%. The same rate for children with AML is 6570%.

Childhood leukemia is typically acute, which means that it develops quickly. As a result, a person should contact a doctor if they notice any of the symptoms.

The most common type of childhood leukemia is ALL, representing 3 out of 4 leukemia cases in children.

Treatment may include a combination of chemotherapy, targeted drugs, immunotherapy, stem cell transplants, surgery, and radiation.

The prognosis depends on the type of leukemia and the childs age.

This diagnosis can affect mental as well as physical health, and the effects can extend to caregivers, family members, and friends. Many different resources are available for support.

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Leukemia in children: Symptoms, causes, treatment, outlook, and more - Medical News Today

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Leukemia in children: Symptoms, causes, treatment, outlook, and more – Medical News Today | February 6th, 2021

Following stem cell transplant or treatment with CAR T-cell therapies, patients with hematologic malignancies and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tend to have favorable outcomes, especially if they are diagnosed in complete remission (CR) and further out from their cell infusion, according to Miguel-Angel Perales, MD, underscoring that care should not be delayed despite the ongoing pandemic.

Delayed therapy results in patients with relapse or progression of disease who did not receive the intended cellular therapy; [weve seen this happen] in 34% of cases, Perales, chief of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), said during a presentation delivered at the 2021 AACR Virtual Meeting on COVID-19 and Cancer.1 Given that we can avoid the risk of nosocomial transmission, I think this clearly indicates that we should be careful about how we manage these patients and not try to delay their care.

In his talk, Perales highlighted registry data detailing the impact of the pandemic on cellular treatment in patients with cancer, outcomes of patients who were infected with the virus and received hematopoietic cell transplantation, and the impact of virus-related delays in care.

Data reported to the ASH Research Collaborative COVID-19 Registry for Hematology, a global reference tool available to the public, showed that as of January 15, 2021, a total of 813 malignant and non-malignant cases of COVID-19 were reported, with just over 500 cases reported in the United States alone.2

When looking at cellular therapies received prior to a diagnosis with the virus, 10 patients had received CAR T-cell therapies (6 recovered, 4 died), 46 patients had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (34 recovered, 7 died, 5 had unknown outcome), and the majority, or 78 patients, had undergone autologous stem cell transplantation (67 recovered, 7 died, 4 had unknown outcome).

An earlier analysis of data collected from this registry showed that among the first 250 patients for whom data were collected, the overall mortality rate was 28% (95% CI, 23%-34%).3 However, in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 infection, the mortality rate was even higher, at 42% (95% CI, 34%-50%). This is a condition that has significantly impacted our patients with hematologic malignancies, noted Perales.

Another registry, of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), requires the inclusion of outcomes of patients who have undergone transplantation or received CAR T cells.4 As of January 15, 2021, data for 1258 patients from 195 centers were reported to the registry and showed that 50.08% of patients had undergone allogeneic transplantation and 44.66% had undergone autologous transplantation. Only a small percentage of patients received cell therapy, according to Perales.

The age of patients at the time of infection ranged from less than 20 years to older than 70 years, with the majority of patients between the ages of 60 years and 69 years. When looking at infections by region, 29.35% of cases were reported in the Midwest, 23.44% were reported in the Northeast, and 22.73% were reported in the South. The majority of cases occurred within the first 2 years of their infusion. A total of 614 casesalmost half of all patientshad their infection resolve, while 58 experienced improvement; 187 patients had died.

In a subsequent paper, investigators examined risk factors associated with death from COVID-19 in recipients of allogeneic transplantation based on data from the CIBTR registry.5 Results from the multivariate analysis showed that age greater than 50 years (P = .016), male gender (P = .006), and COVID-19 infection in less than 12 months following transplantation (P = .019) were all significantly associated with increased risk of death.

Interestingly, race and ethnicity were not significant in this series, noted Perales. Similarly, when we look at patients [who have undergone] autologous transplant, the only factor that we saw was the diagnosis of lymphoma versus myeloma. Other factors were not significant.

In another analysis, investigators examined outcomes of patients following transplant who were infected with the virus at MSKCC. Of the first 77 patients diagnosed between March 15, 2020 and May 7, 2020, 37 had undergone autologous transplant, 35 had undergone allogeneic transplant, and 5 had received CAR T-cell therapy.6

The disease distribution was as expected, according to Perales. Thirty-eight percent of patients had plasma cell disease, 23% had acute leukemia, 23% had aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), 5% had Hodgkin lymphoma, 4% had chronic myeloid leukemia, 4% had myelodysplastic syndrome, and 3% had indolent NHL.

When you look at day [of infection] post infusion, you see there was a significant range, said Perales. In fact, the number of patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 several months or even years after their cell therapy. These are the demographics of 77 patients, but this is representative of the patients that we transplant at our center.

Notably, 44% of patients did not have any comorbidities. Investigators also examined the home medications that patients were receiving at the time of their COVID-19 diagnosis. Here, 10 patients were receiving steroids, 18 were receiving immunomodulatory agents, 4 were receiving anticoagulation agents, and 14 were receiving immunosuppressive drugs.

Almost half, or 48%, of patients had mild COVID-19 infection, so they were not admitted to the hospital. Twenty-six percent of patients had moderate infection, and thus, were admitted to the hospital, while 22% had severe infection and were either admitted to the intensive care unit or died.

In that group, the majority of them actually had active malignancy, unlike the other 2 groups where the majority actually were in remission, said Perales. Patients who required high levels of oxygen [were often those who] had active malignancy.

Results from a univariate analysis looking at the predictors of disease severity revealed significant associations between the presence of comorbidities and infiltrates on imaging at the time of diagnosis. Overall, however, we were able to see favorable outcomes with patients after COVID-19 infection, said Perales. Two-thirds of patients actually had a resolution. We did see 14 deaths, which represented 18% of patients. This was 41% of patients who were admitted, but particularly those with an active malignancy.

Among patients who were admitted to the hospital but had a malignancy that was in remission, the mortality rate was 21%. This was due, in part, to the fact that in many cases, patients or their family members decided to forego aggressive medical care.

Additional data revealed that COVID-19 was linked with a drop in lymphocyte populations across the board, added Perales. Notably, lymphopenia with COVID-19 was not found to impair long-term immune reconstitution in patients who had undergone bone marrow transplant.

When looking at survival in patients after infection with COVID-19, overall outcomes were found to be favorable.

Investigators also examined the risk of nosocomial infections in patients who had undergone transplantation or received cellular treatment in light of the pandemic. They looked at a series of 44 cases.

In March 2020, 2 healthcare workers were exposed at MSKCC and 3 patients had documented COVID-19 infection. One patient was receiving treatment in the inpatient setting, but the patient did have frequent visits from family members, according to Perales. So, its unclear when or how the exposure occurred, Perales said. The patient ended up dying.

Two additional patients may have been exposed in the donor room while they were collecting the stem cell from the autologous transplant, added Perales. One patient eventually died from the virus.

Again, its unclear whether these patients were infected in the center or in the community, as COVID-19 was very prevalent at the time, said Perales. Importantly, we have not seen any additional cases of potential or definite COVID-19 nosocomial infection since March 2020 at our center.

When examining the impact of the pandemic on treatment delays, in March 2020, investigators started to prospectively collect data from patients whose transplant or cellular therapy was delayed as a result of the impact of the virus on resources at the hospital, particularly the capability of using intensive care unit beds.1

Results showed that 85 patients delayed treatment; of those patients, 29 have not received their intended cellular treatment. Sixteen were supposed to receive autologous transplant, 12 were supposed to undergo allogeneic transplant, and 1 was supposed to receive CAR T-cell therapy.

Of the 56 patients who eventually proceeded to treatment, 62% received autologous transplant, 67% received allogeneic transplant, and 86% received CAR T-cell therapy. The biggest reason for not proceeding to treatment with autologous transplant and CAR T-cell therapy was because they were deferred due to good disease control. Other reasons included was because of a new comorbidity (12%) or they died from the virus. The most prominent reason for not proceeding to allogeneic transplant during the pandemic was progression of disease (42%).

We conclude that patients who are recipients of allogeneic transplant, and particularly those with acute leukemia, as much as possible should proceed to their indicated therapy and not be delayed, concluded Perales.

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Perales Examines the Impact of COVID-19 on Recipients of Cellular Therapies for Cancer - OncLive

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Perales Examines the Impact of COVID-19 on Recipients of Cellular Therapies for Cancer – OncLive | February 6th, 2021

Image for representation purpose only.

A tech entrepreneur, who is determined to live for 180 years, claims his bizarre strategies will soon be as popular as cell phones. Dave Asprey firmly believes one of the keys to living longer is skipping breakfast. The American lifestyle guru has asserted that he can at least live to the year 2153 by using a variety of techniques, including a cold cryotherapy chamber sitting and intermittent-fasting. The 47-year-old millionaire devised the term 'Biohacking' to detail his methods of turning back the biological clock. In an effort to survive for as long, Dave has spent over $1,000,000 on hacks and techniques to improve the overall functioning of his body. He has parts of his bone marrow removed to re-inject his own stem cells back into his body.

Appearing on ITVs This Morning today, he joined host Holly Willoughby for a virtual conversation. Holly quizzed Dave why he wants to live so long, to which he replied that as a curious person, he feels there is a lot in the world that can be fixed and improved that he thinks he has not done yet. Dave confirmed that some of the things he wants to pioneer are expensive. However, there are other ways that are free of cost like fasting.

Dave also speculated that after applying his methods for longer life, people under 40 will be 'happy and highly functional' over a 100-years-old. He stated that he won't be the only one as his wife both is also racing to get to 180 years old. In comparison to others, Dave has set himself up for much less inflammation by controlling what he eats and how he sleeps, besides several other anti-ageing treatments. Explaining the benefits of reintroducing his own stem cells in his body, he said people heal when they are young. With age, the stem cells of the body get exhausted, so he opts for ways which gives him more stem cells.

Dave also follows cryotherapy, which is also known as cold therapy. It involves using low temperatures to treat a variety of tissue lesions. He is also taking cold showers for more than ten years. Dave uses another technique to live a long life known as intermittent fasting. This involves controlling the number of times that one eats meals to create periods of fasting over a certain period. According to Dave, it helps in disease prevention as fasting periods lets his body to 'repair itself' while not digesting food.

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US Man Who Wants to Live for 180 Years Re-injects His Own Stem Cells, Spends Rs 87 Lakh - News18

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on US Man Who Wants to Live for 180 Years Re-injects His Own Stem Cells, Spends Rs 87 Lakh – News18 | February 6th, 2021

The reduced osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is the typical characteristics of pediatric aplastic anemia (AA) pathogenesis. Long non-coding RNA MEG3 is reported to promote osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs via inducing BMP4 expression.This study aims to investigate the mechanism of DNMT1/MEG3/BMP4 pathway in osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs in pediatric AA.BMSCs were isolated and purified from bone marrows of pediatric AA patients (n=5) and non-AA patients (n=5). The expression of DNMT1, MEG3, and BMP4 in isolated BMSCs was detected using quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analysis. Osteogenic differentiation was determined using Alizarin red staining. The methylation of MEG3 promoter and the interaction between DNMT1 and MEG3 promoter were detected using methylation-specific PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, respectively.Lowly expressed MEG3 and BMP4 and highly expressed DNMT1 were observed in BMSCs of pediatric AA patients. The overexpression of MEG3 promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Luciferase reporter assay showed that MEG3 overexpression increased transcriptional activity of BMP4. The inhibitor of methylation, 5-azacytidine, suppressed DNMT1 expression and reduced methylation of MEG3 promoter. Overexpression of DNMT1 increased the binding between DNMT1 and MEG3 promoter. The simultaneous overexpression of DNMT1 and MEG3 restored the inhibition of osteogenic differentiation caused by DNMT1 overexpression alone.Our findings indicated that DNMT1 mediated the hypermethylation of MEG3 promoter in BMSCs, and DNMT1/MEG3/BMP4 pathway modulated osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs in pediatric AA.

PubMed

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Hypermethylation-mediated downregulation of long non-coding RNA MEG3 inhibits osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and...

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Hypermethylation-mediated downregulation of long non-coding RNA MEG3 inhibits osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and… | February 6th, 2021

The mum of a Stockton toddler says time is running out to find a match for her son who is battling a rare blood cancer.

Little Mason Arrowsmith, one, was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (JMML) on Christmas Eve last year.

The condition is a rare type of slowly developing blood cancer that occurs in young children.

Although it was discovered at an early stage, doctors say Mason needs a stem cell or bone marrow transplant for the best chance of survival.

In a desperate attempted to help, his mum Katie Jordan will donate her own bone marrow later this month, but a full match is urgently needed.

"The hospital has been absolutely amazing, but unfortunately after searching worldwide there is no match for Mason due to his bone marrow being so rare," Katie said.

"We need to get him to transplant as soon as, the hospital is looking at the end of February, using me as his first donor in the hope that this will help him until we find a better match.

"I would give my life for Mason but unfortunately, I can only donate my bone marrow three times in a lifetime and Im not a full match for him.

"Children with JMML live around 12 months after diagnosis, we need to find mason a better match. Twelve months is not long enough for us to have with our boy, we are living the worst possible nightmare."

As Mason does not have a close enough match within his family - the only potential cure is through a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.

The family has now launched a 'Masons Mission' to encourage people to support blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan in raising urgent funds to add more donors to the stem cells register.

There is currently a blacklog of around 25,000 potential donors due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the charity needs to raise up to an extra 500,000 to add people to the register, from ordering more swab packs to analysing completed swabs in its laboratory.

Any one of the 25,000 people who have applied to join the Anthony Nolan could be a match for Mason or one of the 2,300 patients in the UK, who need a stem cell transplant from a donor each year.

Katie added: "We have set our target at 10,000 which does seem a lot but this would help to cover 250 registrations and kits and allow us to continue our search for my baby."

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan said: "Were doing all we can to find a stem cell donor to give Mason a second chance of life.

"A perfect storm of the coronavirus pandemic, and a surge of 40,000 incredible people who have been inspired to join the Anthony Nolan register in the last month by patients, like Mason means that were in urgent need.

"The best thing people can do is support Anthony Nolans work financially. By giving anything, together we can add all potential lifesavers to the register, and give patients like Mason hope."

Anthony Nolan recruits people aged 16-30 to the stem cell register as research has shown younger people are more likely to be chosen to donate.

They also carry out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.

It costs 40 to recruit each potential donor to the register, so Anthony Nolan relies on financial support.

You can support Masons Mission here.

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Family 'living worst nightmare' as they desperately seek donor for tot with rare blood cancer - Teesside Live

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Family ‘living worst nightmare’ as they desperately seek donor for tot with rare blood cancer – Teesside Live | February 6th, 2021

Researchers at the Catholic University of Korea St. Marys Hospital have recently proved the efficacy of bone marrow-derived stem cells to treat ototoxicity hearing loss, the hospital said Thursday.

The team, led by Professor Park Kyoung-ho of the Department of Otolaryngology, conducted an experiment on animal models with ototoxic sensorineural hearing, or sudden hearing loss.

They utilized Catholic MASTER cells, bone marrow stem cells developed by the Catholic Institute of Cell Therapy, to compare the stem cell injection group with the controlled group.

The result showed that animals started to recover their hearing after three weeks. Five weeks later, they recovered normal hearing at 8000Hz, 16000Hz and 32000Hz frequency.

Ototoxic hearing loss is caused when a person ingests chemicals or certain medications that adversely affect the inner ear functions. Major symptoms related to the illness are dizziness, false hearing, and hearing loss, which permanently defects hearing functions. Elders with such symptoms should have medical consultations as they are a high-risk group, the hospital said.

We have proved the efficacy of our bone marrow stem cells in recovering hearing, said Professor Park, who doubles as the director of the Stem Cell Institute. Through the results, we expect to provide new treatment opportunities for patients with hearing loss.

The test results were published in the Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

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Stem cells efficacy confirmed in treating ototoxic hearing loss - Korea Biomedical Review

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cells efficacy confirmed in treating ototoxic hearing loss – Korea Biomedical Review | February 4th, 2021

The outbreak of the Covidpandemic has made many patients reluctantto undergotreatments. While their apprehension seems to overpower them, doctors need to ensure thatstrict guidelines and protocols which assure the best quality service are followed.

Among elective surgeries andtransplants, bone marrow transplant cases have increased substantially in the past few months. Adhering to guidelines for pre-transplant evaluation and the management of a common complication, graft versus host disease (GVHD)is essential.

With the diversity of practice and expertise, the following guidelines will provide a pivotal tool for learning about the rapidly updated therapy landscape in Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

The guidelines intended to provide a systematic approach for transplantation and help streamline clinical practices and educate new generations of physicians-in-training. Additionally, guidelines can help to evaluate a potential transplant recipient anddetermine if the patient is an eligible candidate for the procedure.

Types and selection of transplantation:

Selection of the type of transplantation for a patient depends on factors such as the type of malignancy, availability of a suitable donor, age of the recipient, the ability to collect a tumor-free autograft, the stage, the malignancy's susceptibility to the GVM effect, and status of disease -- bone marrow involvement, the bulk of disease, chemosensitivity to conventional chemotherapy. This method is particularly applicable for Autologous or Allogeneic Transplantation where one can have a sibling donor or a matched unrelated donor. In the case of a matched unrelated donor, ensure that the collection is adequate and stem cells are available well in time especially if they are imported from countries in Europe.

A haploidentical transplant is another type of transplant that uses healthy, blood-forming cells from a half-matched donor to replace the unhealthy ones. The ideal donor in this case is a family member.

That said, for bone marrow transplant blood products are the backbone and it is important to ensure to have adequate supply before you begin with the transplant.

What are the guidelines and protocols that can be adopted in current times?

Some measures for consideration are: Minimize face-to-face visits including monitoring and consider shifting to telehealth where feasible. Some adaptive community measures like the hospital in the home services, community practices for blood collection, imaging, and support services. For radiation oncology treatment, consider reducing fractions when supported by evidence Consider alternative and less resource-intensive treatment regimes. Minimize unnecessary visitors to cancer centers, for instance, limiting to only patients and their essential caregivers based on frailty and language needs Screen for possible symptoms of COVID-19 and triage patients for admission. If necessary, the admission has to be directed to oncology/hematology departments rather than emergency departments. Immunocompromised patients are likely to have atypical presentations of COVID-19 For suspected checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonitis prioritizes COVID-19 testing for an early decision regarding corticosteroid therapy.

These are some guidelines that you should heed during a bone marrow transplant. While it is imperative to be updated about the guidelines, timely intervention can reduce the other possible complications during the process.

(The author is the Director, Medical Oncology and Hemato Oncology, atFortis Cancer Institute, Bangalore)

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Understanding bone marrow transplant: The guidelines and the protocols - The New Indian Express

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Understanding bone marrow transplant: The guidelines and the protocols – The New Indian Express | February 4th, 2021

- DKMS-BMST continues to urge Indians to step up to be a potential lifesaver!

BENGALURU, India, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- February 4th is marked as World Cancer day every year. This day is observed to spread awareness about the disease and its increasing burden. In line with the theme for this year "Create a futurewithout cancer. The time to act isnow", DKMS BMST Foundation India, a non-profit organization with a mission to provide a second chance at life to blood cancer and blood disorder patients in India makes an appeal to people to come forward and register as potential blood stem cell donors.

On World Cancer Day 2021, DKMS is also celebrating a milestone of providing more than 90,000 blood cancer patients across 57 countries with a second chance at life, since it was founded almost 30 years ago in 1991. DKMS is an international non-profit organization that helps provide patients with lifesaving blood stem cell transplants. DKMS has presence in India, Germany, USA, Poland, UK, Chile, and South Africa.

Patrick Paul, CEO, DKMS BMST Foundation India, says, "DKMS is proud to be the world's leading donor center, accounting for nearly 30% of the total donor pool. While, this is a global milestone, when it comes to India, the fact is that the Indian donors are highly underrepresented in the global database. This is why it becomes difficult for doctors to find a matching blood stem cell donor for Indian patients. While DKMS has registered over 10.5 million donors and has provided over 90,000 patients with a second chance at life globally, it is critical to highlight that only over 43,000 Indian donors are part of this donor pool."

In India, every year, over one lakh people are diagnosed with a form of blood cancer and it remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among children. Most people are unaware that a life-threatening disease like blood cancer can be treated and in most of the cases, a stem cell transplant is the patient's only chance for survival. For instance, 15-year-old Maheer from Gujarat, India, is one of the blood cancer survivors who had received a lifesaving blood stem cell donation in 2012. He was able to find his matching blood stem cell donor, Dr. Sita, who hails from Germany. Today, he leads a normal, healthy and happy life. He is in grade 9 and loves to travel, read and swim.

Today, more than 37 million potential unrelated donors are listed worldwide with stem cell donor centers and registries, of which only 0.03% are Indians. Currently, in India, the biggest challenge is the lack of awareness about blood stem cell transplant and the importance of registering as a potential blood stem cell donor. The entire procedure is safe and secure. Once the blood stem cells are collected from a donor, they are infused into the patient through a transplant process which then moves through the bloodstream and settles in the bone marrow. These new blood stem cells begin to increase in numbers and produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, resulting in the replacement of the patient's diseased cells and that's how a blood cancer patient gets a second chance at life. This situation can only be improved by recruiting many more potential stem cell donors from India.

This World Cancer Day, one can take a pledge to become a potential lifesaver. Registration takes only 5 minutes. If one between 18 and 50 years and in good health, the first step to register as a blood stem cell donor by ordering the home swab kit at http://www.dkms-bmst.org/register.

SOURCE DKMS BMST Foundation India

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World Cancer Day 2021: DKMS Announces The Milestone Of Giving 90,000 Blood Cancer Patients Worldwide A Second Chance At Life - PR Newswire India

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Dave Asprey  |  Photo Credit: Twitter

A man who is determined to live until he is 180 years old says that his bizarre methods will soon be as popular as mobile phones. American millionaire tech entrepreneur Dave Asprey, 47, believes he will live to the year 2153 'at least' by using techniques such as sitting in a cold cryotherapy chamber and intermittent-fasting.

Dave coined the term 'Biohacking' to describe his methods of turning back the biological clock.

He got parts of his bone marrow removed to have the stem cells injected back into his body for $25,000 (Rs 18 lakh).

He speculated that people who are under 40 years of age will be "happy and highly functional" at 100 after applying his methods.

When This Morning's Holly Willoughby asked him why he wants to live so long, he replied, "I'm curious, I think there's a lot of things we can fix and improve in the world and I don't feel like I'm at all done yet."

Dave believes that he won't be the only one to be live for so long.

"The things I am working to pioneer, some of them are expensive, some of them are free like fasting. This will be like cell phones, everyone has cell phones - everyone will have anti-ageing. Change can happen rapidly in society," he said. "There will be many people who are under 40 right now who [will be] walking around under their own power, perfectly happy, highly functional, who are more than 100 years old."

Dave has spent an estimated $1 million on techniques and hacks to try and improve his body's overall functioning.

He added, "I set myself up to have much less inflammation than most people do, by controlling what I eat and how I sleep and a lot of other anti-ageing treatments."

He explained why he re-introduced his stem cells in his body, saying, "When we're young, we have a ton of stem cells and we heal like young people. As we age our stem cells get exhausted, so I do things like intermittent fasting which give me more stem cells and then I take my own stem cells and move them around the body so I heal and move like a young person."

Dave also believes in the benefits of cryotherapy, also known as cold therapy, which is the use of low temperatures in medical therapy to treat a variety of tissue lesions. He has been having cold showers for over ten years.

Another technique that Dave uses to live a long life is intermittent fasting, which involves restricting times that you eat meals to create periods of fasting over a certain period.

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Man who wants to live for 180 years spends Rs 18 lakh to re-inject his own stem cells - Times Now

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Up Market Research (UMR) recently published a report entitled, the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Market, describing the crucial aspects of the market by conducting an in-depth analysis of the current trend, emerging threats, and future market assessment. This report takes into account the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market for the period of 2020-2020 and provides a detailed information about how the market will perform during the forecast period, 2020-2027. Our research team presents the report in a simplistic manner supported by fact and actual figures that will assist clients to arrive an informed decision about their investment plans and business strategies.

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Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Market Report Includes:

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AllogeneicAutologous

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Peripheral Blood Stem Cells Transplant (PBSCT)Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)Cord Blood Transplant (CBT)

By Regions:

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The report covers the competitive landscape of various major global players, their current market positions, and key business strategies adopted to mark their major footprint in the market. This includes information about the product launch, expansion of the production facilities or plants, adoption of new technologies, latest merger & acquisition, partnership, and collaboration of the key players. It furthers provides concrete information about the existing market scope for the new entrants and the current competitive levels and scenario for the emerging players in the global market.

The Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Market Report Covers the Following Companies:

Regen Biopharma IncChina Cord Blood CorpCBR Systems IncEscape Therapeutics IncCryo-Save AGLonza Group LtdPluristem Therapeutics IncViaCord I

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Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Market Incredible Possibilities, Growth With Industry Study, Detailed Analysis And Forecast To 2027 ...

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Market Incredible Possibilities, Growth With Industry Study, Detailed Analysis And Forecast To 2027 … | February 4th, 2021

Excitement took wing in the scientific community in the early 1990s, when the first gene therapy trial showed significant success, only to crash at the end of the decade with a patients tragic death.

Twenty years later, the excitement is back and greater than before. Although safety remains a concern, investigators are breaking ground in cell and gene therapy, and many believe that ultimately, a string of cured cancers will follow.

In 2017, the excitement over these therapies returned in spades when the FDA signed off on a cell-therapy drug for the first time, approving the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah; Novartis) for patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At last, scientists had devised a way to reprogram a persons own T cells to attack tumor cells.

Were entering a new frontier, said Scott Gottlieb, MD, then-FDA commissioner, in announcing the groundbreaking approval.

Gottlieb was not exaggerating. The growth in CAR T-cell research is exploding. Although only a handful of cell and gene therapies are on the market, the FDA predicted in 2019 that it will receive more than 200 investigational new drug applications per year for cell and gene therapies, and that by 2025, it expects to have accelerated to 10 to 20 cell and gene therapy approvals per year.

We can absolutely cut the number of cancer deaths down so that one day in our lifetimes it can be a rare thing for people to die of cancer, said Patrick Hwu, MD, president and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida and among gene therapys pioneers. It still may happen here and there, but itll be kind of like people dying of pneumonia. Its like, He died of pneumonia? Thats kind of weird. I think cancer can be the same way.

Essentially, you can kill any cancer cell that has an antigen that is recognized by the immune cell, Hwu said. The key to curing every single cancer, which is our goal, is to have receptors that can recognize the tumor but dont recognize the normal cells.

Community oncologists will need to be increasingly familiar about the various products, including their immediate and longer-term risks, Bo Wang, MD, and Deepu Madduri, MD, recently wrote in OncologyLive.1 It is key to understand the optimal time for referring these patients to an academic institution, as well as how to manage the requisite post CAR T-cell therapy in the community setting. Madduri is an assistant professor of medicine, hematology and medical oncology, as well as associate director of cellular therapy service, and director of clinical operations with the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma at The Tisch Cancer Institute and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, New York. Wang is a third-year clinical fellow in hematology/oncology at Mount Sinai.

Early referral to academic centers and hospitals equipped to deliver therapies is crucial for patients eligible for therapy. However, as advances continue in the field, community practices may be called upon to administer therapies in their clinic.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) envisions a broader role for the settings in which CAR T-cell therapies can be administered. When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was considering coverage for CAR T-cell therapies in 2019, COA officials argued against limiting approvals to hospitals.

It is important to understand that there are state-of-the-art community oncology practices that have significant experience and capabilities in administering highly complex treatments, COA officials wrote in a letter to CMS. For example, stem cell transplants, which are similar in complexity to CAR T therapy, are performed successfully in the community oncology practice setting.2

Broader use of gene therapies depends on several factors, including navigating the logistics of gene therapies, addressing the high costs, and managing toxicities.3

Autologous CAR T-cell therapies involve a manufacturing process that requires coordination between the treating facility and the processing facility. Following leukapheresis, patients may require maintenance therapy to control disease progression during the manufacturing time, which can take 3 to 5 weeks.

In terms of cost, gene and cell therapies can cost from $375,000 to $475,000 per dose and they may face coverage restrictions from payers. Approvals could take weeks to obtain.3,4

Because of cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicities associated with CAR T-cell therapy, the FDA mandates risk evaluation and mitigation strategy training for centers.

Further, providers may find that real-world experiences with gene therapies are different from those seen in the clinical trial setting, according to Ankit J. Kansagra, MD.

In a presentation at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology Virtual Education Program, Kansagra, an assistant professor of medicine and Eugene P. Frenkel, MD, Scholar in Clinical Medicine at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in Dallas, Texas, said that in practice patients may be older and have more aggressive disease, with double- and triple-hit lymphomas.4

Specifically, Kansagra noted that medications such as steroids and/or tocilizumab (Actemra) to prevent or treat cytokine release syndrome or other toxicities were more frequently used in the real-world setting than what had been seen in clinical trials.

As it stands now, only a fraction of eligible patients are receiving CAR T-cell therapies, Kansagra said. Potentially, 9750 patients a year may be eligible for CAR T-cell therapies in approved and upcoming hematologic indications. From 2016 to 2019, a total of 2058 patients received CAR T-cell infusion.4

Next steps for transplanting these novel therapies to clinical practice will require changes in key areas, Kansagra said, such as supply chain management, patient support, and financial systems (Figure).4

Figure. Next Steps for Effective Delivery of Gene and Cell Therapies4

Meanwhile, multiple myeloma experts advise providers to be ready for change. As commercially available myeloma CAR T-cell therapies are approved, it will be even more important for community oncologists to better understand these therapies so they can offer them to their patients, Wang and Madduri wrote.1

Cell therapy involves cultivating or modifying immune cells outside the body before injecting them into the patient. Cells may be autologous (self-provided) or allogeneic (donor-provided); they include hematopoietic stem cells and adult and embryonic stem cells. Gene therapy modifies or manipulates cell expression. There is considerable overlap between the 2 disciplines.

Juliette Hordeaux, PhD, senior director of translational research for the University of Pennsylvanias gene therapy program, is cautious about the FDAs predictions, saying shed be thrilled with 5 cell and/or gene therapy approvals annually.

For monogenic diseases, there are only a certain number of mutations, and then well plateau until we reach a stage where we can go after more common diseases, Hordeaux said.

Safety has been the main brake around adeno-associated virus vector [AAV] gene therapy, added Hordeaux, whose hospitals program has the institutional memory of both Jesse Gelsingers tragic death during a 1999 gene therapy trial as well as breakthroughs by 2015 Giants of Cancer Care winner in immuno-oncology Carl H. June, MD, and others in CAR T-cell therapy. Sometimes there are unexpected toxicity [events] in trials.I think figuring out ways to make gene therapy safer is going to be the next goal for the field before we can even envision many more drugs approved.

In total, 3 CAR T-cell therapies are now on the market, all targeting the CD19 antigen. Tisagenlecleucel was the first. Gilead Sciences received approval in October 2017 for axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta), a CAR T-cell therapy for adults with large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Kite Pharma, a subsidiary of Gilead, received an accelerated approval in July 2020 for brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) for adults with relapsed/ refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

Another CD19-directed therapy under FDA review for relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma, is lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; JCAR017; Bristol Myers Squibb). Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; bb2121; Bristol Myers Squibb) is under priority FDA review, with a decision expected by March 31, 2021. The biologics license application for ide-cel seeks approval for the B-cell maturation antigendirected CAR therapy to treat adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 3 prior therapies.5

The number of clinical trials evaluating CAR T-cell therapies has risen sharply since 2015, when investigators counted a total of 78 studies registered on the ClinicalTrials. gov website. In June 2020, the site listed 671 trials, including 357 registered in China, 256 in the United States, and 58 in other countries.6 Natural killer (NK) cells are the research focus of Dean A. Lee, MD, PhD, a physician in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He developed a method for consistent, robust expansion of highly active clinical-grade NK cells that enables repeated delivery of large cell doses for improved efficacy. This finding led to several first-in-human clinical trials evaluating adoptive immunotherapy with expanded NK cells under an FDA investigational new drug application. Lee is developing both genetic and nongenetic methods to improve tumor targeting and tissue homing of NK cells. His efforts are geared toward pediatric sarcomas.

The biggest emphasis over the past 20 to 25 years has been cell therapy for cancer, talking about trying to transfer a specific part of the immune system for cells, said Lee, who is also director of the Cellular Therapy and Cancer Immunology Program at Nationwide Childrens Hospital, at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, and at the Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

However, Lee said, NKs have wider potential. This is kind of a natural swing back. Now that we know we can grow them, we can reengineer them against infectious disease targets and use them in that [space], he said.

Lee is part of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinical trial, partnering with Kiadis, for off-the-shelf K-NK cells using Kiadis proprietary platforms. Such treatment would be a postexposure preemptive therapy for treating COVID-19. Lee said the pivot toward treating COVID19 with cell therapy was because some of the very early reports on immune responses to coronavirus, both original [SARS-CoV-2] and the new [mutation], seem to implicate that those who did poorly [overall] had poorly functioning NK cells.

The revolutionary gene editing tool CRISPR is making its initial impact in clinical trials outside the cancer area. Its developers, Jennifer Doudna, PhD, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020.

For patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), CRISPR was used to reengineer bone marrow cells to produce fetal hemoglobin, with the hope that the protein would turn deformed red blood cells into healthy ones. National Public Radio (NPR) did a story on one patient who, so far, thanks to CRISPR, has been liberated from the attacks of SCD that typically have sent her to the hospital, as well from the need for blood transfusions.7

Its a miracle, you know? the patient, Victoria Gray of Forest, Mississippi, told NPR.

She was among 10 patients with SCD or transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia treated with promising results, as reported by the New England Journal of Medicine.8

Stephen Gottschalk, MD, chair of the department of bone marrow transplantation and cellular therapy at St Jude Childrens Research Hospital, said, Theres a lot of activity to really explore these therapies with diseases that are much more common than cancer.

Animal models use T cells to reverse cardiac fibrosis, for instance, Gottschalk said. Using T cells to reverse pathologies associated with senescence, such as conditions associated with inflammatory clots, are also being studied.

CAR T, I think, will become part of the standard of care, Gottschalk said. The question is how to best get that accomplished. To address the tribulations of some autologous products, a lot of groups are working with off-the-shelf products to get around some of the manufacturing bottlenecks. I believe those issues will be solved in the long run.

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Harnessing the Potential of Cell and Gene Therapy - OncLive

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With her sun-kissed hair and flawless golden skin, it's easy to forget that Heidi Klum is in her mid 40s. Genetics certainly help. But so do Heidi Klum's favourite skincare products by Glossier and Drunk Elephant, plus a reminder of home courtesy of German beauty brand The Cream by Augustinus Bader.

In a rare selfie, Klum showed off the Perfectil Hair Skin And Nails Vitamins she takes daily, alongside this smorgasbord of beauty products, which proves the supermodel takes her skincare seriously.

Here are some of her favourite products:

More from womanandhome:

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Resurfacing Night Serum

This night serum contains a hefty dose of glycol acid to exfoliate built-up dead skin cells and resurface dull, uneven skin. Expect brighter, smoother skin when you wake.

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial 25% AHA + 2% BHA Mask

If you like to feel a product working, you'll positive love this mask. Like an AHA/BHA facial in a bottle, it resurfaces skin to reveal greater clarity and improved skin tone.

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum

This vitamin C day serum is packed with antioxidants to protect skin from urban aggressors.

Glossier Solution

A liquid exfoliator that you apply a bit like toner, it buffs away dead dulling skin with a single swipe.

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

We know, we know, even supermodels get spots. This cult zit lotion contains salicylic acid, sulfur, and zinc oxide to dry up blemishes - fast.

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream

The brainchild of a stem cell scientist no less, this overnight treatment uses amino acids and vitamins to re-energise cells to repair damage more effectively.

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Heidi Klum loves to pamper her skin with goodies from Drunk Elephant and Glossier - woman&home

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Gaining more fat cells is probably not what most people want, although that might be exactly what they need to fight off diabetes and other diseases. How and where the body can add fat cells has remained a mystery - but two new studies from UT Southwestern provide answers on the way this process works.

The studies, both published online in Cell Stem Cell, describe two different processes that affect the generation of new fat cells. One reports how fat cell creation is impacted by the level of activity in tiny organelles inside cells called mitochondria. The other outlines a process that prevents new fat cells from developing in one fat storage area in mice - the area that correlates with the healthy subcutaneous fat just under the skin in humans. (Both studies were done in mice.)

In the second study, a commonly used cancer drug was able to jump-start healthy fat cell creation in mice, a finding that raises the possibility of future drug treatments for humans.

While fat isn't popular, as long as people overeat they will need a place to store the excess calories, explains Philipp Scherer, Ph.D., director of the Touchstone Center for Diabetes Research at UT Southwestern and senior author of the first study focusing on mitochondria. There are two options, he says: squeezing more lipids (fat) into existing fat cells and ballooning their size, leading to problems such as inflammation and, eventually, diabetes; or creating new fat cells to help spread the load. Fat stored properly - in fat cell layers under the skin (subcutaneous fat) that aren't overburdened instead of around organs (visceral fat) or even inside organs - is the healthy alternative, he says.

Problems follow if existing fat cells are left on their own to become engorged, adds Rana Gupta, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the second study. "When these cells are so overwhelmed that they can't take it anymore, they eventually die or become dysfunctional, spilling lipids into places not intended to store fat."

Those lipids may move into the liver, leading to fatty liver disease; to the pancreas, resulting in diabetes; or even to the heart, causing cardiovascular disease, Gupta says. Visceral, or belly fat, may surround the organs, creating inflammation.

The healthiest place to store fat is in subcutaneous fat, adds Gupta. Ironically, that is where mice in his study were least able to create new fat cells, despite the fact that stem-cell-like progenitor cells primed to become fat cells were present there as well, he says.

Gupta's study identified a process that prevents progenitor cells from developing into fat cells in mouse subcutaneous inguinal fat.

The protein HIF-1a (short for hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha) is central to the process. It kicks off a series of cellular actions that ultimately inactivate a second protein called PPARgamma, the key driver of fat cell formation.

These proteins are found in both humans and mice. In fact, in a culture of human subcutaneous fat cell progenitors, HIF-1a also inhibited new fat cells from being created, according to Gupta.

In Gupta's mouse study, researchers used a genetic approach to inhibit HIF-1a and found that the progenitor cells could then make subcutaneous inguinal fat cells and fewer were inflamed or fibrotic.

Next, they tested the cancer drug imatinib (brand name Gleevec) and found it had the same effect. The cancer drug was tried because it was known to have beneficial effects against diabetes in cancer patients with both diseases, Gupta says.

In Scherer's study, researchers manipulated a protein called MitoNEET in the outer membrane of the precursor cells' mitochondria, organelles known as the cells' power plants. The resulting mitochondrial dysfunction and drop in cell metabolism caused precursor cells to lose the ability to become new fat cells and increased inflammation.

"This study shows we can manipulate the precursor cells' willingness to become fat cells," Scherer says. "The ability to recruit new fat cells by tickling these pre-fat cells to become fat cells is very important and has profound beneficial effects on health, particularly in the obesity-prone environment that we all live in."

He says his goal is now to design a drug that could stimulate mitochondrial activity.

"Understanding the mechanism is an important first step," Scherer says, referring to the findings from the two studies. "We will have to learn in the future how to manipulate these processes pharmacologically."

Reference: Joffin N, Paschoal VA, Gliniak CM, et aI. Mitochondrial metabolism is a key regulator of the fibro-inflammatory and adipogenic stromal subpopulations in white adipose tissue. Cell Stem Cell. doi:doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2021.01.002

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Two Studies Shed Light on How and Where the Body Can Add New Fat Cells - Technology Networks

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There is no incorrect time of day to take fish oil supplements. However, some evidence suggests that people absorb omega-3 fatty acids more effectively when they take them with a meal that contains dietary fat.

This comes from a study in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care.

Fish oil is a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, which may have a number of health benefits.

In this article, we will discuss when people should take fish oil, how to take it, dosage, and any health benefits and side effects.

There is no significant benefit to taking fish oil at a specific time of day. However, people may wish to take fish oil with a meal that contains dietary fat.

A 2019 study on omega-3 found that taking an omega-3 concentrate with food that contains fat increased bioavailability, making it easier for the body to absorb.

Additionally, an older 2015 study found that taking omega-3 fatty acids with a low fat meal reduced absorption.

Both of these studies looked at omega-3 fatty acids specifically, so the results may not apply to people taking fish oil. Additionally, the amount of omega-3 in fish oil can vary, depending on factors such as the type of fish, and the brand.

People can take fish oil capsules with water during a meal. If a person typically does not eat much fat at breakfast, they may wish to wait until lunch or their evening meal before taking it.

Some people experience gastrointestinal side effects when taking fish oil. If a person experiences this side effect, they may find it helpful to split their fish oil into two doses and take them at different times of the day.

People who split their dose in half may need to take each one at different mealtimes.

Researchers have found it difficult to define an optimal amount of omega-3 fatty acids to get per day.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommend adults take between 5001,000 milligrams of omega-3 per day. However, other countries and organizations recommend different doses.

The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) note that while some types of omega-3 have no official recommended dose, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is an exception. This table shows the recommended daily amounts by age and sex:

The amount of ALA in omega-3 supplements can depend on the type of supplement and the manufacturer. Read the product label to determine how much a supplement contains.

Omega-3 fatty acids may have a positive effect on human health in a number of ways. Research into its benefits is ongoing, but there is evidence that it may:

However, many studies on omega-3s health benefits focus on getting these fatty acids from fish and seafood, rather than from fish oil capsules. If a person is thinking of taking fish oil for a health condition, they should speak with a doctor first.

Some specific conditions that may benefit from a higher intake of omega-3 include:

According to a 2015 review, there is some evidence that consuming omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent or manage cardiovascular conditions. Omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce triglyceride levels in the blood and reduce the risk of cardiovascular death.

Omega-3 fatty acids may also have antiarrhythmic effects, which means they help a persons heart beat in a regular pattern. The effect that omega-3 fatty acids have on arrhythmia may significantly reduce the risk of fatal ventricular arrhythmias.

However, more recent studies show that there may not be a clear benefit to taking omega-3 to prevent adverse effects of cardiovascular conditions. There is also some evidence that taking statins at the same time as omega-3 fatty acid supplements may reduce their protective effect on cardiovascular conditions.

Scientists need to carry out more research on omega-3 and its relationship with preventing or managing cardiovascular diseases.

Some studies have shown that a high omega-3 intake can reduce the risk of inflammatory disease mortality.

Some have also found that omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for people with Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis, two types of inflammatory bowel disease.

However, there is no clinically significant evidence on whether omega-3 fatty acids help prevent relapses for people with these conditions.

Several in vitro studies show that omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on colorectal cancer stem cells (CCSC). CCSC have a long lifespan and can self-renew, leading to colon tumors.

CCSC can lead to cancer relapse and chemotherapy resistance. Omega-3 fatty acids may stop CCSC from growing and may reduce chemotherapy resistance.

Omega-3 fatty acids may have several positive effects with regards to prostate cancer, although research on this is mixed.

Several studies have found that consuming fish or omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer, including aggressive forms.

However, other studies suggest that there is no clear benefit to consuming omega-3 fatty acids to prevent prostate cancer.

Side effects of fish oil supplements are usually mild. They include:

Additionally, omega-3 supplements can have an adverse interaction with drugs that affect blood clotting.

People should contact their healthcare provider to ensure it is safe for them to take a supplement before trying it.

Some evidence suggests that taking supplements that contain omega-3 with a meal that contains fat can increase absorption. As a result, people may wish to take fish oil at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. However, there is no correct or incorrect time to take it.

Always speak with a doctor before starting a new supplement. If a person experiences side effects, they may benefit from splitting their dose in two.

Read more:
When to take fish oil: Timing, dosages and side effects - Medical News Today

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on When to take fish oil: Timing, dosages and side effects – Medical News Today | February 4th, 2021

There's no better time than a national lockdown to test out the coolest new skincare/makeup/hair trends and snazzy innovations in beauty tech from the comfort of your own home. That said, there's nothing more frustrating than spending upwards of 100 on a snazzy new hair treatment or at-home facial system, only to find out it doesn't *actually* work.

Enter GLAMOUR Tries: the weekly Instagram series which sees GLAMOUR editors do all of the time-consuming (and expensive) work for you.

We've been busy trying out all of the (sometimes) wacky but always wonderful beauty crazes to take the internet by storm - from the FOREO's UFO 2 Smart Mask Treatment to Sarah Chapman's 138 Meso-Melt Infusion at-home facial and Toni&Guy's Hello Day! Secret Volumising Crimper. These are the products that every veteran beauty sleuth is talking about - but that you want to do a bit of research into before buying.

Thanks to GLAMOUR Tries, you won't need to waste your hard-earned pennies on testing these innovations yourself. We're getting in their first, giving you the lowdown and making sure you invest in products that genuinely work. Like what you see? You can shop all of the products seen on GLAMOUR tries, with the click of a button, down below. Don't say we don't treat you.

On GLAMOUR Tries this week, our Beauty Editor Lottie Winter tried MAC's brand new virtual try-on tool, in an attempt to find her perfect shade of the classic Studio Fix foundation - from the comfort of her sofa. But was the tool accurate? Was the selected foundation *actually* Lottie's exact match? Here's what happened...

First thing's first: how can you access the tool? "All you have to do is go to the MAC website, find the Studio Fix foundation and simply click on "find your shade match" - and it'll take you straight through to the virtual try-on tool," said Lottie. Click "start now", "allow access to your camera" and then - strike a pose!

"Within just a few seconds, it has selected not only my best match but options for a more golden, more rosy, darker and lighter finish," Lottie continued. "N6 is the shade of Studio Fix Fluid foundation that the virtual try-on tool has chosen for me. So, let's put it to the test..."

Buy It Now

"I'm using a MAC 170 brush to apply. I've just half of my face so we can compare the results - but it couldn't be a better match. It has blended so effortlessly and it has knocked out all the redness around my nose and my eyes.

"What I love most about this foundation is that it's super long-wearing and it helps to control shine throughout the day which is great if you're like me and you have very oily skin. But also the coverage is buildable which means you can get that believable finish."

Any final thoughts? "It couldn't have been easier to get my perfect shade match. It just makes shopping for foundation online so much easier and totally reliable," said Lottie. We're sold.

Would you MAC's virtual try-on tool a go? Have you already tried it? Let us know your thoughts over on Instagram @glamouruk.

See the article here:
I Tried MAC's Virtual Try-On Tool & Here's What Happened - GLAMOUR UK

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on I Tried MAC’s Virtual Try-On Tool & Here’s What Happened – GLAMOUR UK | February 4th, 2021

World Cancer Day 2021: It is observed on 4 February every year and this year the theme is "I Am and I Will".The campaign shows that our actions have an impact on everyone around us, within our neighbourhoods, communities, and cities. This year is a reminder of the enduring power of cooperation and collective action i.e. together, all our actions matter.

What are Blood Cancers?

It is a type of cancer that affects blood cells and affects the production and function of blood cells.

This type of cancer starts in the bone marrow which is the main source of blood production.

It occurs when abnormal blood cells start growing out of control and interrupt the function of normal blood cells that fight off infection and produce new blood cells.

World Cancer Day 2021: Current Theme, History and Key Facts

Blood Cancer: Types

Mainly, there are three types of blood cancers namely leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Leukemia

It is a blood cancer that originates in the blood and bone marrow. It is caused by the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells and interferes with the bone marrow's ability to make red blood cells and platelets. These high numbers of abnormal white blood cells are not able to fight infection.

Lymphoma

This type of blood cancer affects the lymphatic system, which removes excess fluids from the body and produces immune cells. As we know that lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that fights infection. Therefore, abnormal lymphocytes become lymphoma cells that multiply and collect in the lymph nodes and other tissues. And over time, these cancerous cells impair the immune system of the body.

Myeloma

It is a type of blood cancer that begins in the plasma cells of blood which is a type of white blood cell made in the bone marrow. Plasma cells are white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight against infection and disease in the body. So, myeloma cells prevent the normal production of antibodies which make the immune system weak and susceptible to infection.

Blood Cancer: Symptoms

Loss of appetite, nausea

Fever, chills

Night sweats

Persistent fatigue, weakness

Unexplained weight loss

Bone/joint pain

Shortness of breath

Abdominal discomfort

Frequent infections

Itchy skin or skin rash

Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarms or groin

Delirium and confusion

Decreased urination and difficulty while urinating

What is High Grade Metastatic Cancer?

Blood Cancer: Treatment

On the type of cancer, treatment depends and how fast the cancer is progressing, where cancer has spread, and other factors. Some common treatment for blood cancer are:

Chemotherapy: In this anticancer cancer drugs are provided to the patient to interfere with and stop the growth of cancer cells in the body. In blood cancer, in chemotherapy treatment, sometimes several drugs are given together in a set regimen. This treatment may also be given before a stem cell transplant.

Radiation therapy: In this type of cancer treatment high-energy rays are given to kill cancer cells. It may also be given before a stem cell transplant.

Stem cell transplantation: In this type of treatment, healthy stem cells are infused into the patient body to help resume healthy blood production following therapy to destroy malignant blood cells. Stem cells may be collected from the bone marrow, circulating blood, and umbilical cord blood.

Blood Cancer in India

In India, over 20,000 new cases of childhood blood cancer are diagnosed every year of which nearly 15,000 of those cases are leukemia as per Globocan 2020.

The most common type of blood cancer is leukemia that affects children and teens (0-19 years) and one of the leading causes of death.

As per some studies, India ranks 3rd highest in reported cases of Blood Cancer after the US and China. Several factors are responsible like low accessibility of affordable healthcare in rural areas, lack of awareness and education on Blood Cancer, etc.

So, now you may have come to know about the blood cancer, types, symptoms, treatment, etc.

GK Questions and Answers on Types of Cancers

More:
World Cancer Day 2021: What are Blood Cancers, Types, Symptoms, Treatment and data in India? - Jagran Josh

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on World Cancer Day 2021: What are Blood Cancers, Types, Symptoms, Treatment and data in India? – Jagran Josh | February 4th, 2021

EDMONTON -- A little girl with leukemia in northern Alberta is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.

Friends and family of 10-year-old Ameilia Powder have set up a stem cell drive to find a match.

"Asking for help is probably one of the most difficult things to do when you're in this situation and really opening your story up to everyone is really hard. but at the end of the day Ameilia needs a bone marrow match," Ameilia's grandmother Jaime Harpe said. "I'll do whatever it takes to get her that match."

Ameilia was diagnosed in March 2020 and went through five months of treatment at the Stollery Children's Hospital before returning home to Fort McKay First Nation in August.

The cancer returned late last month and this time, a bone marrow transplant is the only option to save her life.

"All people have to do is go blood.ca/stemcells and they can register online, and a kit gets sent to you in the mail," organizer Amanda Main said. "You just swab your cheek, pop it back in and you get entered in the data base, that's all you have to do."

Potential matches need to be between the ages of 17 and 35.

A GoFundMe page has already raised more than $11,000.

Follow this link:
'Whatever it takes': Stem cell drive underway to find bone marrow match for girl on Alta. First Nation - CTV Edmonton

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on ‘Whatever it takes’: Stem cell drive underway to find bone marrow match for girl on Alta. First Nation – CTV Edmonton | February 3rd, 2021

Regenerative therapies such as stem cells and platelet-rich plasma already play an important role in managing osteoarthritis (OA). Nonetheless, veterinarians have found that response to even these therapies is less than ideal in many cases, prompting researchers to continuously seek novel therapies for this all-too-common musculoskeletal disorder. One of the newest to be unveiled is called bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMNC) therapy. One researcher who presented at the 2020 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held virtually, reported that the equine industry is in critical need for therapies that resolve joint inflammation but preserve tissue healing, and BMNC appears a promising candidate.

Much more than stem cells classically sought for cartilage healing, bone marrow is rich in macrophage progenitor cells, explained James B. Everett, DVM, MS, previously of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, who now works at the Equine Surgical Center at ThorSport Farm,in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Macrophages are a type of white blood cell that play a role in tissue repair and cartilage integrity, and produce the anti-inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-10 (IL-10).

Everett said macrophages in the synovial (joint) membrane are essential for joint health, clearing aggressors, secreting key molecules required for optimal joint function, and forming a shield that protects tissues undergoing repair, similar to a wound scab. However, when the amount of tissue damage overwhelms these housekeeping functions, macrophages stimulate inflammation as a means of recruiting more cells, especially more macrophages, to cope with increased demands for repair.

If this response is efficiently accomplished, macrophages then produce, among other things, high concentrations of IL-10 and resolve the inflammatory process, returning the joint to a healthy state, he said.

Everett emphasized that not all inflammation is bad. This acute inflammation is essential to establish a resolving response, and anti-inflammatory therapies can negatively interfere.

As presented by Everetts colleague Bruno Menarim, DVM, PhD, in a separate session, studies show that BMNCs promote the endogenous resolution of experimentally induced inflammation. To see if these promising features translated to naturally occurring inflammation in live horses, Everetts research team studied 19 horses, dividing them into three treatment groups:

The selected horses were diagnosed with OA in a single joint, and the team injected those joints once with the saline, triamcinolone, or BMNCs. The BMNCs were autologous, meaning veterinarians collected them from each patients own bone marrow aspirate. They processed the aspirate in-house, and the isolated mononuclear cells, composed predominantly of macrophages, were ready to inject into the affected joint within three hours of aspiration.

We found that while objectively assessed lameness (via Lameness Locator) decreased in all three groups, it was only significant in the BMNC-treated horses, said Everett. Further, the treatment was well-tolerated with no adverse events appreciated in this study.

He said that using BMNCs can help reduce the need for chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids, which produces potentially harmful consequences. Further, BMNCs preserve the production of molecules such as interleukins and cytokines that are essential for restoring joint homeostasis. Corticosteroids often inhibit these molecules.

The researchers noted that these results support a larger clinical trial using BMNCs in clinical cases of equine OA.

Original post:
Novel Bone Marrow 'Ingredient' To Help Arthritic Horses The Horse - TheHorse.com

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Novel Bone Marrow ‘Ingredient’ To Help Arthritic Horses The Horse – TheHorse.com | February 3rd, 2021

Cynata Therapeutics (ASX: CYP), founded by two clever stem cell researchers and one wise Australian techpreneur, is in the process of developing a treatment for COVID-19.

Using its in-house stem cell technology Cymerus, the ASX-listed biotech hopes to treat one of the deadliest complications of COVID-19 -acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

In doing so Cynata would achieve what competitor Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) couldn't with FDA approval.

By deploying an industrialised approach to stem cell therapeutics, Cynata CEO Ross Macdonald (pictured) is confident the clinical trial process won't leave the company hamstrung.

In 1981 scientists discovered a way to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos.

The discovery thrilled scientists, and eventually led to the development of a method to do the same in lab-grown human embryos by 1998.

While there have been plenty of discussions surrounding the ethics of using of embryonic stem cells, these major scientific movements have pushed researchers to discover new and inventive ways of treating a whole raft of diseases and infections.

One such researcher, Dr Ian Dixon, saw potential for the use of mesenschymal stem cells (MSCs) - a type of stem cell that can differentiate into a variety of cell types enabling the treatment of many diseases and infections.

However there was still an obstacle to overcome: how do you mass produce enough cells needed to commercialise a treatment?

Luckily, two researchers at the University of Wisconson, Professor Igor Slukvin and Dr Maksym Vodyanik, had invented a biotechnological breakthrough called Cymerus.

The technology was able to do exactly what Dixon needed: the consistent manufacture of MSCs on an ultra-large scale; basically what Henry Ford did to the industrialisation of the auto industry, but for stem cells.

So in 2003 Dixon partnered with the two researchers to start Cynata - now an ASX-listed biotechnology company trialing a number of different treatments for a wide variety of ailments.

Most recently, Cynata's focus has been on developing a treatment for a complication of COVID-19 called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

The complication ravages COVID-19 infected patients, destroying their organs through what is known as a cytokine storm. The complication is estimated to kill up to half of COVID-19 patients that suffer from it.

Melbourne-based Cynata is currently in the very early stages of its investigation into whether its MSCs will be able to treat the coronavirus complication overwhelming hospitals globally.

If this all sounds familiar, you might be thinking of another ASX-listed biotech called Mesoblast (ASX: MSB).

In March last year Mesoblast, also based in Melbourne, saw its shares surge after announcing plans to evaluate its stem cell treatment solutions on COVID-19 patients.

The group commenced the arduous clinical trial process to see if its remestemcel-L therapy could treat ARDS by using bone marrow aspirate from healthy donors - a similar approach the company had already taken to treat a condition many suffer from after receiving bone marrow transplants.

Mesoblast was riding high on the ASX following positive announcements surrounding the clinical traila process, especially back in April 2020 when a trial at New York City's Mt Sinai hospital found its remestemcel-L therpay achieved "remarkable" results.

Serious attention gathered around Mesoblast, with the company even securing $138 in funds from investors to continue its important research.

The company went so far as to sign a commercialisation deal for the COVID-19 treatment with Novartis, and the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) fast tracked the approvals process for the potential game-changing treatment.

However, in December 2020, Mesoblast hit a stumbling block.

Mesoblast's COVID-19 treatment flunked the test - its remestemcel-L therapy failed to show a lower mortality rate for patients in the prescribed 30-day timeframe of treatment.

At that point Cynata had commenced research into its own ARDS treatment. But did Mesoblast's failure unnerve Cynata CEO Ross Macdonald? Not a chance.

"I'm more confident that our trial will be successful where theirs was a failure," Macdonald said.

"If you use a process like we have developed - we don't rely on multiple different [stem cell] donations. You start with exactly the same material every time."

To explain, Macdonald used the analogy of a local caf; you normally expect a coffee from one caf to taste more or less exactly the same every time you go there - the same beans are used every time.

Whereas Macdonald said Mesoblast's process is like going to the same caf every day, but each visit they use different beans from a different supplier which leads to inconsistency in taste and flavour.

Cynata's approach with its MSCs is in line with the first example - what you get the first time from them will be replicated in each and every dose of the drug - while MSB's is like the latter.

"Yes, you still got the coffee, but the experience of the taste is totally different than it was yesterday," he said.

"The FDA said to Mesoblast, well you've got a manufacturing problem that is reliant upon multiple donors prepared to donate bone marrow and that is flawed.

"So with that in mind it's perhaps not surprising that they had a pretty disappointing result in the clinical trials."

Additionally, Macdonald said the initial investor reactions to MSB's early COVID-19 trail results were overblown.

"The initial data from their trial that got everybody excited was, in my view, quite flawed, because they said "look at how many patients are dying in intensive care units with COVID compared the patients that we treated," he said.

"But the reality of the situation was quite different. The control group at that time - the death rate was way, way higher than you would typically see for ARDS, whether its COVID or anything else. And it was simply because of the chaos that existed in intensive care units in New York in the first wave.

"So we think that the initial enthusiasm was perhaps a little misguided."

When asked why Mesoblast is receiving so much attention compared to Cynata, especially considering the above, Macdonald said it was simply because MSB is bigger and has been around for longer. For context, MSB has a market capitalisation of $1.46 billion, whereas Cynata's is just $94.56 million.

"I'd love to know why there is less attention, and how we can get our market cap above a billion dollars," joked Macdonald.

"I think the answer though is that they've been around for a lot longer than we have, they have spent a hell of a lot more money than we've spent - their monthly spend is more than we've spent for pretty much our entire existence.

"But I think the fundamental reason why is that data drives value in biotech, so the more clinical data you generate that shows your product works, the more attention you attract from investors."

That's not to say Cynata is being totally ignored in favour of the larger Mesoblast.

The company secured a $15 million placement led by $10 million from healthcare investor BioScience Managers in December.

The funds will be used to expand Cynata's clinical development pipeline and scale their operations in Australia.

As such, the company is preparing to expand its clinical development pipeline to include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, renal transplantation, and diabetic foot ulcers.

"So we're starting to garner that attention now that says two things - one, cell therapies are definitely a medical revolution and two, Cynata is part of that new generation of companies," Macdonald said.

As for the company's pipeline, in addition to the COVID treatment trials, Cynata is planning on launching three new clinical candidates that will get under way this year.

There's also Cynata's osteoarthritis trial, which Macdonald describes as significant for the biotech company; with 2 million patients in Australia and 30 million in the United States the company is hoping to tap into an $11 billion plus addressable market.

"It will ultimately show whether MSCs are useful in that particularly devastating condition," he said.

"It doesn't just affect people who want to go and play golf or tennis, it affects, particularly manual labourers who can no longer work.

"So the cost to the economy of osteoarthritis is quite significant, which is of course one of the reasons why the Australian Government is funding this trial."

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Why Cynata is hopeful its COVID treatment trial will succeed where others have failed - Business News Australia

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