When three Southern Arkansas University nursing students started organizing this weeks stem cell registry drive more than three months ago, they were not aware that a member of the Mulerider family is one of more than 1,400 whose life could be saved.

The stem cell/bone marrow registry drive is scheduled for 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday both in the Reynolds Center Rotunda and the SAU Baptist Collegiate Ministry.

For more information, contact Dr. Becky Parnell at (870)235-4365 or at bbparnell@saumag.edu .

The SAU BSN students initially behind the project are Renee Langley, Tabitha Elliott and Courtney Owens. Parnell explained that while attending the Arkansas Student Nurses Association annual meeting in Little Rock, the students were introduced to the need for bone marrow donors. They even registered to be possible donors themselves.

Parnell said they realized this project was a perfect example of how nurses can impact the care of people outside the normal hospitalized patient.

They recognized how many people this could potentially impact and wanted to recruit more people (to register), said Parnell. I have seen the bone marrow process it is truly a life-saving intervention for many people that are devastated by leukemia.

When Parnell began promoting the registry event on campus, it was brought to her attention that Sydney Galway, the daughter of a Magnolia native, 1984 SAU alum and Board of Governors Chair Beth Galway, is suffering with acute myeloid leukemia.

Sydney Galway is in dire need of a bone marrow transplant.

When Sydney was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, the doctors told us that Sydneys only cure would come from a bone marrow transplant. The doctors were, and are, confident of the success of her treatment due to the fact that she has a high chance to find a perfect bone marrow donor, said Galway.

Her increased chance of finding a match, Galway explained, is simply because she is a Caucasian female which has one of the highest bone marrow donor rates. She has a 97 percent chance to find a donor.

Of course, the first donor they looked at was her sister. A sibling has only a 25 percent chance to be a match; a parent even less. Sydneys sister was not a match, said Galway.

Donor matches are generally based on race. With todays diverse community, the need for bone marrow donors from minority and mixed race groups is high. An African American patient has only a 66 percent chance to find a match.

The doctors and nurses that I have talked to indicate that the need is huge for African Americans as well as donors from India, said Galway.

She said that the treatment for Sydney, who is a sophomore in college, is now in phase 3. Her next step is a bone marrow transplant.

We hope to have a perfect match for her and pray that the donor will be willing to do all that is necessary for providing the blood or bone marrow needed for the transplant, said Galway.

The drive is being sponsored by SAUs Department of Nursing and University Health Services. Junior and senior BSN students will also be assisting in the bone marrow drive as a professional development activity.

Becoming a member of a stem cell/bone marrow registry only requires that you provide a swab of the cells inside your cheek. To register is a painless and fast way to possibly save a life.

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Stem cell registry drive at SAU seeks to connect potential donors with people who need help - Magnoliareporter

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Bangladesh performs 25th bone marrow transplants in the first-ever centre Bangladesh News 24 hours In bone marrow transplantation, doctors replace damaged or destroyed marrow the soft and spongy tissue inside bones with healthy bone marrow stem cells to treat different types of blood cancer, certain genetic blood and immunity disorders like ... and more »

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Bangladesh performs 25th bone marrow transplants in the first-ever centre - Bangladesh News 24 hours

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, February 11, 2017, 5:00 AM

So, bless your heart, youve already signed up for your states organ donor registry. Now its time to kick your lifesaving quest up a notch and sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program, which helps match potential donors with patients fighting leukemia, lymphoma and other deadly diseases.

Here are five reasons to throw your name in the hat, if you needed some convincing:

You can join in person by stopping by a registration drive or by spending a few minutes on BeTheMatch.org. Either way, youll get a registration kit to provide a cheek swab, which the organization uses to identify tissue type and match with a patient.

People aged 18 to 44 hit the sweet spot, as theyre called upon 90% of the time the younger the donor, the smoother the recovery for both patient and donor, said Lauren Wollny, the New Jersey/New York community engagement representative for the nonprofit Icla Da Silva Foundation. The 45- to 60-year-old crowd can still sign up, albeit for a $100 tax-deductible fee that helps the nonprofit cover costs.

Bradley Cooper urges public to join bone marrow registry

Just 1 in 430 volunteers ever even get a call to begin the donation process.

Once youre identified as a match, youll submit to a blood test, physical exam and pregnancy test, all free of charge. A doctor will then recommend one of two procedures: a nonsurgical peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation (75% of the time), or bone marrow donation (25%), which involves surgery and anesthesia but isnt nearly as horrifying as youve heard.

For PBSC, the most common method, youll receive an injection of the drug filgrastim for five days leading up to the donation. On the big day, youll head to a clinic or blood center to have a needle draw blood from one arm, pass it through a machine that isolates the blood-forming cells, and return the blood to the other arm voila. Depending on the size of both patient and donor, it can take four to eight hours which you might use to reflect on what a terrific thing youre doing for a total stranger.

For bone marrow donation youll head to the OR, where a doctor will siphon liquid marrow from the back of your pelvic bone with a needle. The anesthesia will keep you numb, and though you may later feel back or hip soreness, fatigue and other side effects, you should be back to your normal routine within a week.

EXCLUSIVE: Bone marrow recipients to meet FDNY donors

33 photos view gallery

This is the one that gets a really bad rap, Wollny told the Daily News. Its not as bad as people make it out to be.

All in all, the average length of the donation process from start to finish is about 20 to 30 hours over a month or two and your own personal case manager will see you through the entire thing.

People are most likely to match with someone of the same ethnic background since the tissue types used for matching are inherited and the registry is starved for donors who are black or African American, Hispanic, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Asian, Alaska native, Native American and multiracial. If one of those describes your ancestry, go be a hero, please.

The Fort Lee, N.J., 12-year-old was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia last year, undergoing several rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant from her mom before eventually being pronounced cancer-free. But after a relapse in November, Lopez is fighting for her life once again and desperately in need of another bone marrow transplant.

New York tries to increase organ donations to those in need

The Long Island City-based Icla Da Silva Foundation will hold combo registry drive/fundraisers for the tween in New Jersey (Fort Lee and Union City), Georgia, Texas and Florida this Sunday. If youre free and in good health, you should go.

We hope to find Briana a match, and if we find other people a match as well, fantastic, Wollny said. Its so simple to save a life if it was you, wouldnt you want someone to do that for you?

Read the rest here:
5 reasons you should sign up for the bone marrow registry right now - New York Daily News

When three Southern Arkansas University nursing students started organizing next weeks stem cell registry drive more than three months ago, they were not aware that a member of the Mulerider family is one of more than 1,400 whose life could be saved.

The stem cell/bone marrow registry drive is scheduled for 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on February 14-15 both in the Reynolds Center Rotunda and the SAU Baptist Collegiate Ministry. For more information, contact Dr. Becky Parnell at (870)235-4365 or at bbparnell@saumag.edu.

The SAU BSN students initially behind the project are Renee Langley, Tabitha Elliott and Courtney Owens. Parnell explained that while attending the Arkansas Student Nurses Association annual meeting in Little Rock, the students were introduced to the need for bone marrow donors. They even registered to be possible donors themselves. She said they realized this project was a perfect example of how nurses can impact the care of people outside the normal hospitalized patient.

They recognized how many people this could potentially impact and wanted to recruit more people (to register), said Parnell. I have seen the bone marrow process it is truly a life-saving intervention for many people that are devastated by leukemia.

When Parnell began promoting the registry event on campus, it was brought to her attention that the daughter of Magnolia native, 1984 SAU alum and Board of Governors Chair Beth Galway, Sydney, is suffering with acute myeloid leukemia and in dire need of a bone marrow transplant.

When Sydney was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, the doctors told us that Sydneys only cure would come from a bone marrow transplant. The doctors were, and are, confident of the success of her treatment due to the fact that she has a high chance to find a perfect bone marrow donor, said Galway.

Her increased chance of finding a match, Galway explained, is simply because she is a Caucasian female which has one of the highest bone marrow donor rates. She has a 97% chance to find a donor.

Of course, the first donor they looked at was her sister. A sibling has only a 25% chance to be a match; a parent even less. Sydneys sister was not a match, said Galway.

Donor matches are generally based on race. With todays diverse community, the need for bone marrow donors from minority and mixed race groups is high. An African American patient has only a 66% chance to find a match.

The doctors and nurses that I have talked to indicate that the need is huge for African Americans as well as donors from India, said Galway.

She said that the treatment for Sydney, who is a sophomore in college, is now in phase 3. Her next step is a bone marrow transplant.

We hope to have a perfect match for her and pray that the donor will be willing to do all that is necessary for providing the blood or bone marrow needed for the transplant, said Galway.

The drive is being sponsored by SAUs Department of Nursing and University Health Services. Junior and senior BSN students will also be assisting in the bone marrow drive as a professional development activity.

Becoming a member of a stem cell/bone marrow registry only requires that you provide a swab of the cells inside your cheek. To register is a painless and fast way to possibly save a life.

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Stem cell registry drive at SAU Feb. 14-15 - SAU

(WXYZ) - When we get sick, it's common for us to reach for some medicine or maybe even have surgery to deal with disease or pain, but what if you could use your own healthy cells to fight back instead?

Right now, there's a procedure being performed in metro Detroit where healthy stem cells are stored so they can be reintroduced to your system and potentially have life changing or life saving benefits.

Dr. Michael Schenden is the first plastic surgeon in the US to perform the Forever Labs stem cell collection. He starts by harvesting her bone marrow to save those healthy stem cells.

"They should be available for many, many different medical applications is a wonderful thing," says Dr. Schenden.

The company behind this procedure is based in Ann Arbor and it's called Forever Labs.

We're told about 30 people have decided to store their stem cells this way. Sonja Michelsen is one of them. She had her daughter in her early 40s and felt like storing her own stem cells could pay off in the future.

"I want to be able to be here with her throughout her life," she says.

She knows there's no guarantee banking her stem cells will help her in the future, but she sees it as an investment that could pay off if her health takes a turn.

"To have that peace of mind that you do have something to use down the road .. is huge," she says.

Steven Clausnitzer is CEO of Forever Labs. He says by re-introducing your own healthy cells, you may be able to fight disease in the future.

"There are a number of ways people are already using these cells. Maybe the most promising .. orthopedic surgeons .. are reintroducing them into joints in lieu of surgery," he says.

Clausnitzer says there are about 500 clinical trials right now that are using stem cells that, one day, may be able to treat everything from osteoarthritis to multiple scleroses to cardiovascular disease.

This kind of stem cell banking is a 15 minute outpatient procedure. It starts with a local anesthetic in the lower back.

He says the number of your stem cells diminishes with age, as does their therapeutic quality.

"My stem cells were stored at 38. I'm going to turn 40 this year. I rest assured knowing I have my 38-year-old stem cells rendered biologically inert. They're no longer aging .. even as I do," says Clausnitzer.

Mark Katakowski is president of Forever Labs. He says his research showed him the rejuvenating and healing power of stem cells in animals. He believes it can have the same effect in humans.

He says the best time to store the stem cells is when you're young.

"There's a slower decline between 20 and 40 years-old and then it picks up. When you put them in the right place at the right time, they can actually improve recovery in a bunch of therapeutic applications," he says.

Katakowski says there's no limit as to how long they can be stored.

Should a person pass away, their stored stem cells would be destroyed unless arrangements have been made for them to be given to a family member.

At this point, the procedure is not FDA approved. The Forever Labs stem cell collection isn't covered by insurance. It costs around $3,500 to have the procedure done and $250 a year for storage.

The company says it plans to bring the first clinical trials for longevity to market in the next 7-10 years, once there is a large enough differential time between when our first clients stored their cells and can then reintroduce.

It says its goal is that its clientele will be able to participate in the first longevity based human trials utilizing autologous stem cell treatments of healthy individuals.

To learn more about Forever Labs, go to: https://www.foreverlabs.co/

Continue reading here:
Can storing your stem cells be the key to fighting disease and living longer? - WXYZ

OCASCR scientist Lin Liu at work. Photo provided.

Working together, scientists from Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are advancing adult stem cell research to treat some of todays most devastating diseases.

Under the umbrella of the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research (OCASCR), created with funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, these scientists have amassed groundbreaking findings in one of the fastest growing areas of medical research.

We have made exciting progress, said OCASCR scientist Lin Liu, director of the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases and director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Regenerative Medicine at Oklahoma State University.

We can convert adult stem cells into lung cells using our engineering process in petri dishes, which offers the possibility to repair damaged lung tissues in lung diseases, said Liu, whose research primarily focuses on lung and respiratory biology and diseases.

Using our engineered cells, we can also reverse some pathological features. These studies give us hope for an eventual application of these cells in humans.

Adult stem cells in the body are capable of renewing themselves and becoming various types of cells.

Until recently, stem cell treatments were largely restricted to blood diseases. However, new studies suggest many other types of adult stem cells can be used for medical treatment, and the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research was created to promote this branch of research.

OCASCR scientist Lin Liu and his team discussing their work. Photo provided.

Liu said the discipline provides hope for many ailments.

What most fascinated me in stem cell research is the hope that we may be able to use stem cells from our own body; for example, bone marrow or fat tissues to cure lung diseases, Liu said.

It is impossible to know exactly which diseases will respond to treatments.However, results of early experiments suggest many diseases should benefit from this type of research, including lung, heart, Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases, as well as cancer, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. The field is often referred to as regenerative medicine, because of the potential to create good cells in place of bad ones.

While the application of stem cells can be broad, Liu hopes that his TSET-funded work will help develop treatments for diseases caused by tobacco use.

The goal of my research team is to find cures for lung diseases, Liu said. One such disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is the third leading cause of death in the country and cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD.

Cigarette smoking is also a risk factor for another fatal lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which has a mean life expectancy of 3 to 5 years after diagnosis, he added.

There is no cure for COPD or IPF. The current treatments of COPD and IPF only reduce symptoms or slow the disease progression.

Using OCASCR/TSET funding, my team is researching the possibility to engineer adult stem cells using small RNA molecules existing in the body to cure COPD, IPF and other lung diseases such as pneumonia caused by flu, Liu said.

This is vital research, considering that more than11 million peoplehave been diagnosed with COPD, but millions more may have the disease without even knowing it, according to the American Lung Association.

Despite declining smoking rates and increased smokefree environments, tobacco use continues to cause widespread health challenges and scientists will continue working to develop treatments to deal with the consequences of smoking.

We need to educate the public more regarding the harms of cigarette smoking, Liu said. My research may offer future medicines for lung diseases caused by cigarette smoking.

Under the umbrella of the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research (OCASCR), created with funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, these scientists have amassed groundbreaking findings in one of the fastest growing areas of medical research. Photo provided.

Liu has been conducting research in the field of lung biology and diseases for more than two decades.

However, his interests in adult stem cell therapy began in 2010 when OCASCR was established through a grant with TSET, which provided funding to Oklahoma researchers for stem cell research.

I probably would have never gotten my feet into stem cell research without OCASCR funding support, he said. OCASCR funding also facilitated the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Program in Regenerative Medicine at OSU.

These days, Liu finds himself fully immersed in the exciting world of adult stem cell research and collaborating with some of Oklahomas best scientific minds.

Dr. Liu and his colleagues are really thriving. It was clear seven years ago that regenerative medicine was a hot topic and we already had excellent scientists in the Oklahoma, said Dr. Paul Kincade, founding scientific director of OCASCR. All they needed was some resources to re-direct and support their efforts. OSU investigators are using instruments and research grants supplied by OCASCR to compete with groups worldwide. TSET can point to their achievements with pride.

The Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research represents collaboration between scientists all across the state, aiming to promote studies by Oklahoma scientists who are working with stem cells present in adult tissues.

The center opened in 2010 and has enhanced adult stem cell research by providing grant funding for researchers, encouraging recruitment of scientists and providing education to the people of Oklahoma.

We are fortunate that the collaboration at the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research is yielding such positive results, said John Woods, TSET executive director. This research is leading to ground breaking discoveries and attracting new researchers to the field. TSET is proud to fund that investments for Oklahomans.

Funding research is a major focus for TSET and it comes with benefits reaching beyond the lab. For every $1 TSET has invested at OCASCR, scientists have been able to attract an additional $4 for research at Oklahoma institutions, TSET officials said.

TSET also supports medical research conducted by the Stephenson Cancer Center and the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center.

For more information, visit http://www.ocascr.org.

The rest is here:
OCASCR scientists make progress in TSET-funded adult stem cell research - NewsOK.com

A 45-year-old Salina man who was diagnosed with leukemia in November is being honored by a bone marrow registration drive Saturday being held at his church.

This is open to the whole community we want to stress that, said Linda Ourada, a member of the health ministry committee at St. Mary Queen of the Universe Catholic Church Parish Center, 230 E. Cloud. The drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the parish center.

Its possible that Phong Vos sister is a match for him, said Vos wife, Mary Pham.

More blood work is planned to determine if the match is close enough. In the meanwhile, the effort to sign up possible donors for Vo or anyone else who needs a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donation is planned.

Pam Welsh, of Salina, said that more than a decade ago, she had her cheek swabbed during a bone marrow registration drive when a Bennington woman needed a match. She said she was called about a year later and told she was one of three people who were a possible match for a patient. She said she went to Salina Regional Health Center to have blood drawn for further testing.

I was given a choice if I wanted to continue in the process, she said. There was never any pressure.

She said that after the blood tests showed she was a good match for the patient, a nurse came to her house to give her shots to boost her stem cell count. Then she and a friend drove to a Wichita hospital, where she underwent an outpatient procedure during which her blood was drawn from one arm and passed through a machine that filtered out blood stem cells before the blood was returned to her other arm. Welsh said the procedure took one day, and then she took the next day off to recover. All expenses were paid by DKMS, an international organization that fights blood cancer and blood disorders, she said.

She said she found out that her blood was given to a 55-year-old man with some form of leukemia. She was told he was still alive when DKMS contacted her for a five-year checkup.

Although she never met him, Welsh said that for her there was a huge reward in knowing that I was able to help this man knowing that I gave him more years.

Its just a good feeling, she said.

Pham said Vo started feeling ill in October and has since undergone chemotherapy at Via Christi Hospital in Wichita and the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. However, the leukemia has persisted.

Pham, who works for Schwans, has lived in Salina since her grandparents and an aunt, who had lived here since 1975, acted as her sponsors when she immigrated from Vietnam about 21 years ago. She met Vo, who moved here in the late 1990s, at work, and they were married at St. Marys. They have four sons, ages 11, 11, 10 and 8, who have missed their father during his long hospital stays.

When my husband got sick, I was panicked, and I was like, What do I need to do? I dont know what to do, Pham said. Soon she was told about DKMS, which will attempt to match potential donors who register at the Salina drive with Vo and other patients.

The bone marrow registration process for DKMS is simple, said Linda Ourada, who is helping to organize the event.

Its not like drawing blood, Ourada said. People get this mixed up with a blood drive. Theres no blood involved.

A swab is taken from the inside of the cheek, which is then sent for DNA analysis and entered into a global donor computer registry that already includes information about 7 million potential donors.

Every day in the United States, there are 14,000 people waiting for this blood stem cell donation, and only 30 percent get a family match, so that leaves 70 percent out there looking for a suitable donation from someone like us, Ourada said.

Ourada said that in 2012, more than 250 people registered and nine potential matches were contacted for further testing during a bone marrow drive at the church to honor a St. Louis family with Salina ties who had four boys with a rare form of blood cancer.

There is no cost to register as a donor, although monetary donations are being accepted to cover the approximately $65 in costs associated with registering each possible donor.

Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 55, in general good health and be willing to donate should their marrow be matched with a person who needs it. Further details about weight and height requirements or other limiting factors can be found at dkmsamericas.org.

The donation process may be accomplished one of two ways, depending on the patients needs. The preferred method is a blood transfusion, but for some patients, an actual bone marrow graft is necessary. The marrow is harvested through a hollow needle from a hip bone in an outpatient surgical procedure.

Bone marrow could be used to treat blood cancers, anemias, genetic disorders and other life-threatening ailments.

The rest is here:
Bone marrow registration drive planned to honor Salina man - Salina Journal (subscription)

OCASCR scientist Lin Liu at work. Photo provided.

Working together, scientists from Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are advancing adult stem cell research to treat some of todays most devastating diseases.

Under the umbrella of the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research (OCASCR), created with funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, these scientists have amassed groundbreaking findings in one of the fastest growing areas of medical research.

We have made exciting progress, said OCASCR scientist Lin Liu, director of the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases and director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Regenerative Medicine at Oklahoma State University.

We can convert adult stem cells into lung cells using our engineering process in petri dishes, which offers the possibility to repair damaged lung tissues in lung diseases, said Liu, whose research primarily focuses on lung and respiratory biology and diseases.

Using our engineered cells, we can also reverse some pathological features. These studies give us hope for an eventual application of these cells in humans.

Adult stem cells in the body are capable of renewing themselves and becoming various types of cells.

Until recently, stem cell treatments were largely restricted to blood diseases. However, new studies suggest many other types of adult stem cells can be used for medical treatment, and the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research was created to promote this branch of research.

OCASCR scientist Lin Liu and his team discussing their work. Photo provided.

Liu said the discipline provides hope for many ailments.

What most fascinated me in stem cell research is the hope that we may be able to use stem cells from our own body; for example, bone marrow or fat tissues to cure lung diseases, Liu said.

It is impossible to know exactly which diseases will respond to treatments.However, results of early experiments suggest many diseases should benefit from this type of research, including lung, heart, Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases, as well as cancer, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. The field is often referred to as regenerative medicine, because of the potential to create good cells in place of bad ones.

While the application of stem cells can be broad, Liu hopes that his TSET-funded work will help develop treatments for diseases caused by tobacco use.

The goal of my research team is to find cures for lung diseases, Liu said. One such disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is the third leading cause of death in the country and cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD.

Cigarette smoking is also a risk factor for another fatal lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which has a mean life expectancy of 3 to 5 years after diagnosis, he added.

There is no cure for COPD or IPF. The current treatments of COPD and IPF only reduce symptoms or slow the disease progression.

Using OCASCR/TSET funding, my team is researching the possibility to engineer adult stem cells using small RNA molecules existing in the body to cure COPD, IPF and other lung diseases such as pneumonia caused by flu, Liu said.

This is vital research, considering that more than11 million peoplehave been diagnosed with COPD, but millions more may have the disease without even knowing it, according to the American Lung Association.

Despite declining smoking rates and increased smokefree environments, tobacco use continues to cause widespread health challenges and scientists will continue working to develop treatments to deal with the consequences of smoking.

We need to educate the public more regarding the harms of cigarette smoking, Liu said. My research may offer future medicines for lung diseases caused by cigarette smoking.

Under the umbrella of the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research (OCASCR), created with funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, these scientists have amassed groundbreaking findings in one of the fastest growing areas of medical research. Photo provided.

Liu has been conducting research in the field of lung biology and diseases for more than two decades.

However, his interests in adult stem cell therapy began in 2010 when OCASCR was established through a grant with TSET, which provided funding to Oklahoma researchers for stem cell research.

I probably would have never gotten my feet into stem cell research without OCASCR funding support, he said. OCASCR funding also facilitated the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Program in Regenerative Medicine at OSU.

These days, Liu finds himself fully immersed in the exciting world of adult stem cell research and collaborating with some of Oklahomas best scientific minds.

Dr. Liu and his colleagues are really thriving. It was clear seven years ago that regenerative medicine was a hot topic and we already had excellent scientists in the Oklahoma, said Dr. Paul Kincade, founding scientific director of OCASCR. All they needed was some resources to re-direct and support their efforts. OSU investigators are using instruments and research grants supplied by OCASCR to compete with groups worldwide. TSET can point to their achievements with pride.

The Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research represents collaboration between scientists all across the state, aiming to promote studies by Oklahoma scientists who are working with stem cells present in adult tissues.

The center opened in 2010 and has enhanced adult stem cell research by providing grant funding for researchers, encouraging recruitment of scientists and providing education to the people of Oklahoma.

We are fortunate that the collaboration at the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research is yielding such positive results, said John Woods, TSET executive director. This research is leading to ground breaking discoveries and attracting new researchers to the field. TSET is proud to fund that investments for Oklahomans.

Funding research is a major focus for TSET and it comes with benefits reaching beyond the lab. For every $1 TSET has invested at OCASCR, scientists have been able to attract an additional $4 for research at Oklahoma institutions, TSET officials said.

TSET also supports medical research conducted by the Stephenson Cancer Center and the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center.

For more information, visit http://www.ocascr.org.

See the rest here:
OCASCR scientists make progress in TSET-funded adult stem cell ... - NewsOK.com

Genetic profiling can guide stem cell transplantation for patients with ... Science Daily A single blood test and basic information about a patient's medical status can indicate which patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are likely to benefit ... and more »

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Genetic profiling can guide stem cell transplantation for patients with ... - Science Daily

This post was originally published on this site New Facility at Sunnybrook Part of Plan to Expand Care for People with Blood Diseases

Ontario is investing in a new facility at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre that will offer specialized treatment for people with blood cancers such as leukemia.

Premier Kathleen Wynne was at Sunnybrook in Toronto Tuesday to announce the governments support for a new Complex Malignant Haematology (CMH) site. Sunnybrook will become the second hospital in the Greater Toronto Area along with Princess Margaret Cancer Care to provide a full range of potentially life-saving CMH services, including stem cell transplants.

Ontario is also improving treatment for people with blood diseases by:

Investing to improve care for people with blood cancers and disorders is part of our plan to build a better Ontario by providing patients with faster access to the right health care.

Kathleen Wynne: Premier of Ontario

Stem cell transplants can help lessen the terrible toll that cancer takes on families. We are providing support so hospitals can offer more patients access to a life-saving treatment and the chance for a new lease on life.

Dr. Eric Hoskins: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

Today marks a major milestone for Ontario patients needing stem cell transplants. With this investment, patients will have better access to timely service and state-of-the-art treatment, but most importantly, more patients will be able to receive stem cell transplants right here in Ontario.

Dr. Barry McLellan: President and CEO, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

This is a life-saving investment. We are grateful to the Ontario government for the funding to provide care and build a new state-of-the-art facility for patients who are afflicted with this serious illness.

Michael Sherar: President and CEO, Cancer Care Ontario; Co-convener, Complex Malignant Hematology Hematopoietic Cell Therapy Consultation Group

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is an important and valued partner in Ontarios cancer care system. The addition of a new Complex Malignant Haematology site is a critical step in our efforts to ensure that patients receive timely access to transplant services in Ontario.

Source Government of Ontario press release

Original post:
More people to get access to life-saving stem cell transplants - Erie Media

Using stem cells and gene therapy to treat orcure disease may still sound like science fiction, but a scientific meeting here last week emphasizedall the fronts onwhich it is moving closer and closer to fact.

Were entering a new era in medicine, said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, in his opening remarks at the first annual symposium of the schools new Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine. Stanford researchersare poised to use stem cells and gene therapy to amelioratea wide swath of diseases, from common diagnoses such as diabetes and cancerto rare diseases ofthe brain, blood, skin, immune system and other organs. Ultimately, the goal is to create one-time treatments that can provide lifetime cures; hence the definitive and curative part of the centers name. Stanford is a leader in this branch of medical research, Minor said, addingThis is a vital component of our vision for precision health.

Stanford has a long history of leading basic-science discoveries in stem cell biology, andis now engaged in studyingmany different ways those discoveries couldbenefit patients, saidMaria Grazia Roncarolo, MD, who leads the new center.Our job is to produce clinical data so compelling that industry will pick up the product and take it to the next stage, Roncaraolo told the audience.

Among otherevent highlights:

More coverage of the days events is available in a story from the San Jose Mercury News that describeshowAnthonyOro, MD, PhD, and his colleagues are fighting epidermolysis bullosa, a devastating genetic disease of the skin. Oro closed his talk with a slightly goofy photo of a man getting a spray tan. It got a laugh, but his point was serious: Our goal for the cell therapy of the future is spray-on skin to correct a horrible genetic disease.

Ambitious? Yes. Science fiction? In the future, maybe not.

Previously: One of the most promising minds of his generation: Joseph Wu takes stem cells to heart,Life with epidermolysis bullosa: Pain is my reality, pain is my normaland Rat-grown mouse pancreases reverse diabetes in mice, say researchers Photo of Matthew Porteus courtesy of Stanford Childrens

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Stanford scientists describe stem-cell and gene-therapy advances in scientific symposium - Scope (blog)

The 2017 Australian of the Year award went to Professor Alan Mackay-Sim for his significant career in stem cell science.

The prize was linked to barbeque-stopping headlines equating his achievements to the scientific equivalent of the moon landing and paving the road to recovery for people with spinal cord injuries.

Such claims in the media imply that there is now a scientifically proven stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury. This is not the case.

For now, any clinic or headline claiming miracle cures should be viewed with caution, as they are likely to be trading on peoples hope.

Why stem cells for spinal cord injury?

Put simply, injury to the spinal cord causes damage to the nerve cells that transmit information between the brain and the rest of the body.

Depending on which part of the spine is involved, the injury can affect the nerves that control the muscles in our legs and arms; those that control bowel and bladder function and how we regulate body temperature and blood pressure; and those that carry the sensation of being touched. This occurs in part because injury and subsequent scarring affect not just the nerves but also the insulation that surrounds and protects them. The insulation the myelin sheath is damaged and the body cannot usually completely replace or regenerate this covering.

Stem cells can self-reproduce and grow into hundreds of different cell types, including nerves and the cells that make myelin. So the blue-sky vision is that stem cells could restore some nerve function by replacing missing or faulty cells, or prevent further damage caused by scarring.

Studies in animals have applied stem cells derived from sources including brain tissue, the lining of the nasal cavity, tooth pulp, and embryos (known as embryonic stem cells).

Dramatic improvements have been shown on some occasions, such as rats and mice regaining bladder control or the ability to walk after injury. While striking, such improvement often represents only a partial recovery. It holds significant promise, but is not direct evidence that such an approach will work in people, particularly those with more complex injuries.

What is happening now in clinical trials?

The translation of findings from basic laboratory stem cell research to effective and safe treatments in the clinic involves many steps and challenges. It needs a firm scientific basis from animal studies and then careful evaluation in humans.

Many clinical studies examining stem cells for spinal repair are currently underway. The approaches fit broadly into two categories:

using stem cells as a source of cells to replace those damaged as a result of injury

applying cells to act on the bodys own cells to accelerate repair or prevent further damage.

One study that has attracted significant interest involves the injection of myelin-producing cells made from human embryonic stem cells. Researchers hoped that these cells, once injected into the spinal cord, would mature and form a new coating on the nerve cells, restoring the ability of signals to cross the spinal cord injury site. Preliminary results seem to show that the cells are safe; studies are ongoing.

Other clinical trials use cells from patients own bone marrow or adipose tissue (fat), or from donated cord blood or nerves from fetal tissue. The scientific rationale is based on the possibility that when transplanted into the injured spinal cord, these cells may provide surrounding tissue with protective factors which help to re-establish some of the connections important for the network of nerves that carry information around the body.

The field as it stands combines years of research, and tens of millions of dollars of investment. However, the development of stem cell therapies for spinal cord injury remains a long way from translating laboratory promise into proven and effective bedside treatments.

More:
Yes There's Hope, But Treating Spinal Injuries With Stem Cells Is Not A Reality Yet - IFLScience

February 08, 2017 09:45 ET | Source: BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.

MELVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT" or the Company") (OTCBB:BRTX), a life sciences company focused on stem cell-based therapies, today announced that it has received clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial using its lead cell therapy candidate, BRTX-100, to treat chronic lower back pain due to degenerative disc disease related to protruding/bulging discs.

The Phase 2 clinical trial is a 72 patient, randomized, double-blind, controlled, multi-center study designed to evaluate safety and efficacy of a single dose of BRTX-100 in treating chronic lower lumbar disc disease. BRTX-100 will be administered via intradiscal injection into one disc of a subject with chronic lumbar disc disease and whose pain is not responsive to conservative treatment measures (e.g., oral medication, epidural injections and physical therapy). The primary goal of the treatment is to both reduce pain and increase function in these patients.

In January 2017, the Company had submitted an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to the FDA to obtain clearance to commence this clinical trial using BRTX-100. BRTX-100 is a product formulated using a patients own cell population (autologous), which consists of hypoxic (low oxygen) cultured mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are optimized for specific use for a non-surgical, conservative intradiscal procedure that can be performed in a physicians office.

"We are excited to be able to begin our clinical development of BRTX-100 with this Phase 2 clinical trial," saidMark Weinreb, President and Chief Executive Officer of BioRestorative Therapies. This treatment has the potential to positively impact millions of Americans suffering from chronic lumbar disc disease as an alternative to surgery. We believe that this technology can be truly transformative and addresses a large market underserved by current therapies.

About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.

BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (www.biorestorative.com) develops therapeutic products using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells. Our two core programs, as described below, relate to the treatment of disc/spine disease and metabolic disorders:

Disc/Spine Program (brtxDISC): Our lead cell therapy candidate, BRTX-100, is a product formulated from autologous (or a persons own) cultured mesenchymal stem cells collected from the patients bone marrow. We intend that the product will be used for the non-surgical treatment of protruding and bulging lumbar discs in patients suffering from chronic lumbar disc disease. The BRTX-100 production process involves collecting a patients bone marrow, isolating and culturing stem cells from the bone marrow and cryopreserving the cells. In an outpatient procedure, BRTX-100 is to be injected by a physician into the patients damaged disc. The treatment is intended for patients whose pain has not been alleviated by non-invasive procedures and who potentially face the prospect of surgery.

Metabolic Program (ThermoStem): We are developing a cell-based therapy to target obesity and metabolic disorders using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue (BAT). BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in the body may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of brown fat may have a reduced risk for obesity and diabetes.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including those set forth in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

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Ally Little described the past month of her life as a nightmare from which she just cant wake up.

On Dec. 22, the University of Southern Maine soccer player learned she had a rare and life-threatening disease in which her bone marrow stops producing healthy blood cells. However, the words severe aplastic anemia meant nothing to Little at the time.

Its really hard because I didnt know what this was before I had it, said Little, a 20-year-old sophomore from Stoneham, Massachusetts. No one has really heard of aplastic anemia or what the treatment is.

A bone marrow transplant is the cure for this disease, and Little has yet to find a matching donor. Littles teammates have organized a bone marrow donor registry drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Abromson Mezzanine at the USM Portland campus and from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Costello Complex at the Gorham campus.

Diagnosed during winter break, Little broke the news to her teammates on social media.

It hit home, said USM womens soccer coach Lisa Petruccelli. This is really the first time someone their age at this juncture is struggling with something like this.

Littles initial symptoms didnt seem serious. She started getting pounding headaches around Thanksgiving, but she had gotten headaches before. Physical activities such as skiing or working out for soccer became unusually exhausting, which Little attributed to dehydration. She didnt go to her doctor until she noticed blood in her stool.

(Aplastic anemia) is believed to be an autoimmune system gone wrong, said Paul Scribner, Senior Director of Patient Advocacy Programs with the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation (AAMDS). The disease usually results from the destruction of bone marrow stem cells by the immune system. Other symptoms include infections and the tendency to bruise and bleed easily. With such innocuous warning signs, Scribner said a lot of people find out when they go to their doctor because theyre feeling run down.

After bloodwork, Little was told that her results were very abnormal. She spent the next few days in the hospital undergoing tests while doctors prepared her for the worst case scenario leukemia.

That was obviously horrifying, Little said. We didnt find out until about three days later that it was severe aplastic anemia.

Aplastic anemia is rare and can occur at any age. In the United States, about 600 to 900 people are diagnosed each year, according to AAMDS. The disease is considered severe when all three types of blood cells red blood cells (carry oxygen), white blood cells (fight infections) and platelets (help blood to clot) are very low in number.

I was kind of relieved it wasnt cancer, Little said. Then, doctors explained to me that its really not that good. It was devastating.

Little couldnt go back to school. With her compromised immune system, crowds are off limits. She cant play contact sports or do anything that could put her at risk of internal bleeding. She gets blood transfusions every week, and she can tell when shes due for another by the dizziness and headaches she gets. The long-term risk of too many transfusions, Scribner said, is iron overload.

Most days, I feel OK, Little said. I dont really feel sick, which is good. But its hard to remember I cant do certain things.

Little is buying time until she can get a bone marrow transplant. Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside of the bones that produces the bodys blood cells. She didnt find a match among her family or with Be The Match a national bone marrow registry that contains 22.5 million adult donors.

Registering at the drive is simple. Potential donors must be between 18-44 years old and fill out basic paperwork and get their cheek swabbed to have their tissue type added to the registry a process that takes just a few minutes. After that, they will remain registered until age 61, unless they withdraw.

However for those in need of bone marrow finding a perfect match is not so easy.

Think about Megabucks and how hard it is to match that, said Jackie McLoon, Assistant Account Executive with Rhode Island Blood Center as well as a bone marrow donor. McLoon, a representative with Be the Match, has helped the USM soccer team organize its drive. Everyday, there are donors getting added to the database. Hopefully, her match shows up one of these days.

Only 30 percent of patients in need of a marrow transplant have a matching donor in their family. Be The Match helps the 14,000 patients a year who suffer from leukemia, lymphoma or a variety of bone marrow functioning diseases. McLoon said a protein called human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is used to match patients with donors, and potential matches will then undergo bloodwork to determine if they would be a good fit. Only about 1 in 500 registrants go on to actually donate marrow.

There are 10 things that they are supposed to match, Little said. They think one of my 10 is very rare.

But her teammates are optimistic. On Saturday, they attended a home basketball game clad in T-shirts adorned with the phrase: All for Ally. They gushed about Littles kind personality and reminisced about all the times they crashed in her room.

Shes the best teammate ever. Shes so sweet oh my god, I love her, said Jessica Preble, a sophomore on the team. If you ask anything of her, shell drop everything and do it.

This team is kind of used to bad things happening to our girls, said Dayna Staffiere, noting that one of their teammates lost her dad at sea last season when the cargo ship El Faro sank after encountering Hurricane Joaquin. It just brings us all closer.

When Little isnt at the hospital, shes usually working on her online classes or walking her dog. She said the support from family, friends and her soccer team is what keeps her going.

Were the ones who are supposed to be strong for her, but shes so strong for us, Preble said. Just a cheek swab and some paperwork could help save her life.

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USM women's soccer players organize bone marrow drive for teammate with rare disease - Press Herald

An act of kindness can change your life in a positive way. But how much better would it be if that same act ends up changing someone elses life in an amazing way too? Jillian Altenburg can answer that.

It will change me for the better, but I am even happier I have the ability to change someone elses life for the better, Jillian said.

This month, Jillian will go through a bone marrow donor procedure for a little child struggling with leukemia. Not only will this change Jillian forever, but it gives a small child a new chance at life.

Jillian, the daughter of Gary Altenburg and Lori Altenburg, is a Cut Bank High School 2013 graduate. She will be part of another graduation this May when she receives her nursing degree from the MSU-BSN college of nursing program in Great Falls.

Jillian first learned about being a bone marrow donor while in her freshman year of college at MSU-Bozeman. It was during one of my classes we heard about a child who was looking for a bone marrow match and after class the organization called Be the Match was introduced to us.

Be the Match is an organization that matches bone marrow donors to patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. Jillian became a potential donor that day after class when she had her cheek swabbed and entered into the program.

It was a few years before she heard anything from Be the Match, but this past December Jillian received a call saying she could be a match for a patient needing bone marrow.

I didnt know if I was the only match or if there were other potential matches too, Jillian stated. They asked me to do some blood work and they said it usually takes 60 days to determine if I would be a perfect match. But it only took a week for them to get back to me and let me know I was a perfect match for this little child with leukemia.

It was then that things started happening fast for Jillian. They told me that the child was in remission and that there is a window of time to do the procedure, so they gave me the date it would be done and where I needed to be for the procedure and explained what would be happening. And Be the Match would be picking up the tab for everything.

According to Jillian, there are two ways to collect bone marrow. One of those is by putting needles in my arm to gather stem cells. The other is by cutting a slit on both sides of my pelvis and inserting a hollow needle into the bone to pull out what they need. Normally they can take up to six cups of bone marrow, but with this being a child needing the bone marrow, they probably will not need that much.

After the procedure, Jillian will be discharged but will need to stay close to the hospital for another night in a hotel to make sure all is okay. Once that is determined, she can return home.

They say the procedure is painful and I will be sore. But ever since I learned I was a match, there was no choice in this for me. I actually feel like the lucky one, having this opportunity to help this child, Jillian said.

Within seven days of harvesting Jillians bone marrow, the child will receive the bone marrow that is so desperately needed for survival. During that time, Jillian should feel better and better each day. And within two weeks of having made the donation, Jillians body will have replaced the bone marrow taken from her.

Even though Be the Match tells all their potential donors that they can opt out of the program at any time, that was not an option for Jillian. Once they start prepping the patient to receive a bone marrow transplant, they really dont want people to say they have changed their minds. I have no intention of doing that anyway. When they called me, it was not a decision I had to think about. I knew I was going to do it. It feels good to be able to help someone and change their life for the better, she said.

The day Jillian shared the news with her mom Lori, that she was a potential bone marrow match for someone, Lori said, I got that warm, fuzzy feeling, but as we spoke longer it turned to worry, mostly for this child who has had to deal with these awful circumstances. I knew Jillian would be fine. She is strong, very physically fit and young. She has everything going for her in being a good donor.

Lori will be accompanying Jillian when she has the procedure done and will be there for her all the way through to recovery. We have always teased Jillian that she is still attached to her moms umbilical cord, so we both know I have to go, even though I know it doesnt stretch quite that far, laughed Lori.

Lori admitted she did not know Jillian had even put her name into the Be the Match program. We have lost many loved ones due to cancer, with number one being Jillians Grama Nancy (Loris mom). Even so, when I got the call from Jillian that she was contacted by the Be the Match program because she was a possible bone marrow match, it was very, very surprising. But I feel super proud and very blessed that she was chosen. To say I am not a little nervous would be a fib, but she will be in good hands and we know friends and family are praying for her and the child who will receive the donation, Lori shared.

For a year following the transplant, Jillian will not know the name of the child she made the donation to. I can find out through Be the Match how this little one is doing, but for up to a year they want me to remain anonymous. After a year, we can have contact.

As Jillian said, she knew without a doubt, she would be going through this procedure the minute she was called and told she was a perfect match. And while she admitted she is a little scared, she countered that with, It will be worth it.

There are two lives being changed with one procedure. Jillians life will be forever changed by this. And the young child? With Jillians donation, there is hope that many years can be added to that young little life.

Excerpt from:
Jillian Altenburg: Sharing her gift of lifeand bone marrowwith young leukemia patient - Cut Bank Pioneer Press

Physicians at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have successfully treated 16 patients with a rare and lethal form of bone marrow failure called severe aplastic anemia using partially matched bone marrow transplants followed by two high doses of a common chemotherapy drug. In a report on the new transplant-chemo regimen, published online Dec. 22, 2016, in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the Johns Hopkins team says that more than a year after their transplants, all of the patients have stopped taking immunosuppressive drugs commonly used to treat the disorder and have no evidence of the disease.

"Our findings have the potential to greatly widen treatment options for the vast majority of severe aplastic anemia patients," according to Robert Brodsky, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and an author of the report.

Results of the small clinical trial have already prompted the organization of a larger national trial being led by Amy DeZern, M.D., an assistant professor of oncology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, with plans to involve patients at 25 medical centers across the country.

Diagnosed in about one in 250,000 people each year, aplastic anemia occurs when one's own immune system damages blood-making bone marrow cells, which gradually stop producing red and white blood cells and platelets.

Patients must receive frequent blood transfusions, take multiple medicines to suppress the autoimmune response that damages the marrow, take other drugs to prevent infections, and limit contact with the outside world to avoid infection and even minor injury. Over the long term, most patients eventually die of infections.

When immunosuppressive therapy fails to keep the disease in check -- in as many as 30 to 40 percent of patients -- doctors usually prescribe a drug called eltrombopag, which is used in a variety of blood disorders to increase platelets. The drug, according to the Johns Hopkins experts, works only in about 30 percent of patients and usually leads to a partial, not complete, response.

Brodsky and DeZern say that the only curative treatment is a bone marrow transplant, but few patients have donors who are "fully matched" -- sharing the same collection of immune-stimulating proteins that decorate every cell in the body.

In an effort to overcome the donor shortage and offer transplant to more patients, DeZern, Brodsky and their colleagues enrolled 16 patients between 11 and 69 years of age in this study from July 2011 through August 2016.

Each of the patients had failed to respond to immunosuppressive therapy or other drug treatments. None had access to a related fully matched bone marrow donor but did have an available and willing donor who was a half match. Three patients used unrelated donors.

After administering a cocktail of drugs designed to suppress their immune system and prevent rejection of the donor marrow, the patients received half-matched bone marrow transplants, some from siblings or parents, and others from unrelated donors.

Three and four days after their transplants, the patients received high doses of the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide. For the next year, or slightly longer, they remained on immunosuppressive medications, including tacrolimus, then stopped taking them.

Within weeks of their transplants, tests showed that each of the patients' red and white blood cell and platelet counts had returned to normal levels without the need for blood transfusions. Once immunosuppressive therapy was stopped, none of the patients required further treatment related to their disease, the Johns Hopkins team reported.

Although 13 patients were able to discontinue immunosuppressive drugs a year after their transplant, three developed mild graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a common complication of bone marrow transplants that occurs when immune cells in the transplant attack the newly transplanted cells. Two patients had mild GVHD that appeared on their skin, and one patient's GVHD occurred in the mouth and skin. After a few extra months of immunosuppressive therapy, their GVHD subsided, and they also were able to stop taking these medications.

Ending all therapy related to their disease has been life-changing for the patients, says DeZern. "It's like night and day," she says. "They go from not knowing if they have a future to hoping for what they'd hoped for before they got sick. It's that transformative."

Successful transplants using partial match donors, Brodsky says, open up the transplant option to nearly all patients with this condition, especially minority patients. Seven of the 16 patients treated at Johns Hopkins self-identified as nonwhite.

A full sibling only has a 25 percent chance of being a full match. However, 100 percent of parents and 50 percent of siblings or half-siblings are half matches, regardless of ethnicity. The average person in the United States has about four half matches or better. "Now, a therapy that used to be available to 25 to 30 percent of patients with severe aplastic anemia is potentially available to more than 95 percent," says Brodsky.

The idea of using cyclophosphamide after a partial-match transplant was first pioneered decades ago by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center experts. Brodsky says the drug destroys patient's diseased immune system cells but does not harm the donor's blood stem cells, which create new disease-free blood cells in the patient.

Bone marrow transplants are costly -- sometimes exceeding more than $300,000. However, Brodsky and DeZern say that full and half-matched transplants are life-saving for many, and there is cost-saving potential when aplastic anemia patients can avoid a lifetime of immunosuppressive therapy, hospitalizations, medications and blood transfusions.

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16 aplastic anemia patients free of disease after bone marrow transplant and chemo - Science Daily

Louisville, Ky. man saves stranger's life

Julia Rose, WHAS 1:17 PM. EST February 07, 2017

Eric Gurevich and Ron Dreben

LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- It's hard to believe that up until a few months ago, Eric Gurevich and Ron Dreben were total strangers.

I got to see him for the first time and I just gave him this big bear hug and he was crying and his wife was there and his 81-year-old mother was there, Gurevich said.

That bear hug was years in the making but the two were bonded long before as blood brothers.

Because he received those, he was kind of given a new lease on life, Gurevich said.

Gurevich lives in Louisville. He donated his stem cells to Dreben who lives in Washington D.C. in 2014, one, quick decision that changed the lives of two people. Gurevich remembers the call from the organization Gift of Life like it was yesterday.

They said that there was a 54-year-old man with MDS and his life was dire and I am the only potential match, Gurevich said.

Without hesitation, he hopped on a plane from Louisville to D.C. and a week later started the donation process. Despite some concerns from family members who weren't totally sold on the idea of him undergoing the major medical procedure for a man he didn't even know, Gurevich says his decision was a no-brainer.

You're a little kid and you dream of being a superhero or helping someone or saving someone's life and you get this call. You get an opportunity. How could you not? Gurevich said.

He says donating 1.5 billion stem cells is painless, just like the cheek swab he did back in 2008, the reason he was even a possible match for Dreben.

Didn't think anything of it, got my cheek swabbed and then forgot about it pretty much the next day, Gurevich said.

That cheek swab was taken on his Birthright trip to Israel, a once in a lifetime opportunity that he never expected to lead to another once in a life time journey.

Gurevichs stem cell donation saved Dreben's life and for a full year after the transplant, they wondered about one another. By law, they weren't allowed to know each other's identities but that didn't stop them from exchanging cards and small gifts.

Eric Gurevich donated his stem cells to Dreben who lives in Washington D.C. in 2014, one, quick decision that changed the lives of two people.

He sent me a magnet that says 'life is a journey not a destination' and I have it right on my fridge and I think about him just about every day, Gurevich said.

Finally, after more than a year, the pair met face to face in Miami in November, a moment captured in a picture and forever captured in their hearts.

When you donate to a stranger you always wonder, you know who is on the other side and I was just so grateful that it was him, Gurevich said.

Gurevich says he and Dreben text each other often, sending pictures of their families back and forth and they plan to meet up again in the future.

If you're interested in becoming a potential stem cell or bone marrow donor with Gift of Life, you can find more information here: http://www.giftoflife.org.

There are also two local organizations dedicated to stem cell research and transplants: sharingamericasmarrow.com & nationalstemcellfoundation.org.

( 2017 WHAS)

Here is the original post:
Ky. man saves stranger's life with stem cell transplant - WHAS11.com

Globalnews.ca

Quebec family hopes to raise awareness for patients in need with stem cell registry drive Globalnews.ca Natasha Camacho-Gomes (middle right, standing) organized a bone marrow registry drive Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 to raise awareness for patients in need. Her Fianc Kevin Butterfill is one of those patients. He was diagnosed with leukemia in January.

View original post here:
Quebec family hopes to raise awareness for patients in need with stem cell registry drive - Globalnews.ca

The 2017 Australian of the Year award went to Professor Alan Mackay-Sim for his significant career in stem cell science.

The prize was linked to barbeque-stopping headlines equating his achievements to the scientific equivalent of the moon landing and paving the road to recovery for people with spinal cord injuries.

Such claims in the media imply that there is now a scientifically proven stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury. This is not the case.

For now, any clinic or headline claiming miracle cures should be viewed with caution, as they are likely to be trading on peoples hope.

Put simply, injury to the spinal cord causes damage to the nerve cells that transmit information between the brain and the rest of the body.

Depending on which part of the spine is involved, the injury can affect the nerves that control the muscles in our legs and arms; those that control bowel and bladder function and how we regulate body temperature and blood pressure; and those that carry the sensation of being touched. This occurs in part because injury and subsequent scarring affect not just the nerves but also the insulation that surrounds and protects them. The insulation the myelin sheath is damaged and the body cannot usually completely replace or regenerate this covering.

Stem cells can self-reproduce and grow into hundreds of different cell types, including nerves and the cells that make myelin. So the blue-sky vision is that stem cells could restore some nerve function by replacing missing or faulty cells, or prevent further damage caused by scarring.

Studies in animals have applied stem cells derived from sources including brain tissue, the lining of the nasal cavity, tooth pulp, and embryos (known as embryonic stem cells).

Dramatic improvements have been shown on some occasions, such as rats and mice regaining bladder control or the ability to walk after injury. While striking, such improvement often represents only a partial recovery. It holds significant promise, but is not direct evidence that such an approach will work in people, particularly those with more complex injuries.

The translation of findings from basic laboratory stem cell research to effective and safe treatments in the clinic involves many steps and challenges. It needs a firm scientific basis from animal studies and then careful evaluation in humans.

Many clinical studies examining stem cells for spinal repair are currently underway. The approaches fit broadly into two categories:

using stem cells as a source of cells to replace those damaged as a result of injury

applying cells to act on the bodys own cells to accelerate repair or prevent further damage.

One study that has attracted significant interest involves the injection of myelin-producing cells made from human embryonic stem cells. Researchers hoped that these cells, once injected into the spinal cord, would mature and form a new coating on the nerve cells, restoring the ability of signals to cross the spinal cord injury site. Preliminary results seem to show that the cells are safe; studies are ongoing.

Other clinical trials use cells from patients own bone marrow or adipose tissue (fat), or from donated cord blood or nerves from fetal tissue. The scientific rationale is based on the possibility that when transplanted into the injured spinal cord, these cells may provide surrounding tissue with protective factors which help to re-establish some of the connections important for the network of nerves that carry information around the body.

The field as it stands combines years of research, and tens of millions of dollars of investment. However, the development of stem cell therapies for spinal cord injury remains a long way from translating laboratory promise into proven and effective bedside treatments.

Each case is unique in people with spinal cord injury: the level of paralysis, and loss of sensation and function relate to the type of injury and its location. Injuries as a result of stab wounds or infection may result in different outcomes from those incurred as a result of trauma from a car accident or serious fall. The previous health of those injured, the care received at the time of injury, and the type of rehabilitation they access can all impact on subsequent health and mobility.

Such variability means caution needs to accompany claims of man walking again particularly when reports relate to a single individual.

In the case that was linked to the Australian of the Year award, the actual 2013 study focused on whether it was safe to take the patients own nerves and other cells from the nose and place these into the damaged region of the spine. While the researchers themselves recommended caution in interpreting the results, accompanying media reports focused on the outcome from just one of the six participants.

While the outcome was significant for the gentleman involved, we simply do not know whether recovery may have occurred for this individual even without stem cells, given the type of injury (stab wounds), the level of injury, the accompanying rehabilitation that he received or a combination of these factors. It cannot be assumed a similar outcome would be the case for all people with spinal injury.

Finding a way to alleviate the suffering of those with spinal cord injury, and many other conditions, drives the work of thousands of researchers and doctors around the globe. But stem cells are not a silver bullet and should not be immune from careful evaluation in clinical trials.

Failure to proceed with caution could actually cause harm. For example, a paraplegic woman who was also treated with nasal stem cells showed no clinical improvement, and developed a large mucus-secreting tumour in her spine. This case highlights the need for further refinement and assessment in properly conducted clinical trials before nasal stem cells can become part of mainstream medicine.

Its also worth noting that for spinal cord injury, trials for recovery of function are not limited to the use of stem cells but include approaches focused on promoting health of surviving nerves (neuroprotection), surgery following injury, nerve transfers, electrical stimulation, external physical supports known as exoskeletons, nanotechnology and brain-machine interfaces.

Ultimately, determining which of these approaches will improve the lives of people with spinal injury can only be done through rigorous, ethical research.

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Yes there's hope, but treating spinal injuries with stem cells is not a reality yet - The Conversation AU

BUCKEYE, AZ - As the saying goes: "blood is thicker than water." But when it comes to bone marrow, it is truer than ever especially because family is usually the only people to turn to for a match.

But, one Buckeye family is finding that the phrase could not be more perfectfor them because a brother has been serving as the lifeline for his sibling over the last few years.

Gloria Mesquias calls her 11-year-old son, Shaun, "the warrior."

"He takes every jab he gets and just rolls through," said Mesquias.

Shaun's 13-year-old brother Malik is called "the hero."

"They are actually like night and day, "Mesquias said. "They're brothers."

The three of them, and other supportive family members, have spent months at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Shaun has a condition where his body isn't producing new blood cells.

"He was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia," Mesquias said.

That happened when he was just about 1 year old. Ever since then, he's been in and out of the hospital.

But, Malikhas served as a bone marrow and stem cell donor to his b brother not once, not twice but, three different times.

And the fight for this little warrior, is not over yet. If his treatment goes well over the next few days, he will have a fourth surgery on Wednesday; another stem cell transplant.

Mesquias doing this all as a single mother. She also has a 5-year-old daughter, who has not seen Shaun since before Christmas.

"She understand;she gets it," Mesquias explained. "She knows brother is sick and she knows mom is here with Shaun."

But, while she tries to keep it together, all of the stress and days away from home are weighing on Mesquias. But, it's something she will never let her family see.

"At night time, I can go in the restroom and cry my eyes out or ball my face out in the pillow," Mesquias said. "But, I just don't do it in front of him."

So, the boys' Buckeye teacher, Carrie Brown, has also taken action to try and do something special for the family.

"She would never ask for help," Brown said. "She's not that kind of person. So, I just thought that this was one thing that I could do to relieve some of the worry that she has and to give her a little bit of comfort."

Brown started a GoFundMe page to try and help the family who has given so much to each other.

And Mesquias said she is making sure all of them get out of that hospital together.

"He has his moments too where he says he wants to go home," Mesquias explained. "And... I'm like, 'I'm not going home until you're going home. So, we're good."

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Buckeye boy donates bone marrow to sick brother - ABC15 Arizona - ABC15 Arizona