Some worry that a ruling giving donors the ability to sell their bone-marrow tissue will encourage legal sale of other body parts.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(Time.com) -- How much would it take for you to consider selling your bone marrow? A U.S. appeals court puts the price at about $3,000 in a ruling that now makes it legal to pay donors for their bone-marrow tissue.

The court's decision may well help thousands of sick patients who need bone-marrow transplants to survive, but it also begs the question, What other body parts might next be up for sale?

The ruling came about at the end of 2011, in a decision to an October 2009 lawsuit brought by a group of cancer patients, parents and bone-marrow-donation advocates against the government over the federal law banning the buying and selling of bodily organs. The plaintiffs were led by Doreen Flynn, who has three daughters who suffer from Fanconi anemia, a blood disorder that requires bone-marrow transplants to treat.

Flynn and the other plaintiffs said that too many such patients die waiting for transplants and argued that we should be allowed to pay people to donate their marrow as a way of ensuring a more reliable supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed.

Time.com: Facebook now lets organ donors tell their friends

At the core of the plaintiffs' argument was the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA), which since 1984 has forbid the buying and selling of human organs, including bone marrow. But new developments in bone-marrow extraction have made marrow donation not much different from donating blood.

Traditionally, bone-marrow donation required anesthesia and long needles to extract the marrow from the hip bones of donors. Now, a technique called peripheral apheresis allows doctors to extract blood stem cells directly from the blood, instead of the bone -- patients first take a drug that pulls stem cells from the bone and into the blood -- meaning that the marrow cells should be considered a fluid like blood, rather than an organ, the plaintiffs argued. NOTA doesn't prohibit payments for blood or other fluids, such as plasma or semen.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to ask the Supreme Court to review the appellate court's decision, which would have been the next step in overturning it. That means the ruling stands -- and that people can now be paid up to $3,000 for their marrow, as long as it is collected by apheresis. In a concession to the spirit of NOTA, however, the compensation can't be in cash; it needs to be in the form of a voucher that can be applied to things such as scholarships, education, housing or a donation to a charity.

Link:
Should people be allowed to sell their organs?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 3, 2012

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INVESTIGATORS FIND CELL REPLACEMENT/ TISSUE REPAIR POTENTIAL IN ADULT BONE MARROW STEM CELLS IN ANIMAL MODEL

Scientists Looking for Potential Avenue to Grow Cells of Different Organs

Newswise Baltimore, MD July 3, 2012. Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Maryland report promising results from using adult stem cells from bone marrow in mice to help create tissue cells of other organs, such as the heart, brain and pancreas - a scientific step they hope may lead to potential new ways to replace cells lost in diseases such as diabetes, Parkinsons or Alzheimers. The research in collaboration with the University of Paris Descartes is published online in the June 29, 2012 edition of Comptes Rendus Biologies, a publication of the French Academy of Sciences.

Finding stem cells capable of restoring function to different damaged organs would be the Holy Grail of tissue engineering, says lead author David Trisler, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

He adds, This research takes us another step in that process by identifying the potential of these adult bone marrow cells, or a subset of them known as CD34+ bone marrow cells, to be multipotent, meaning they could transform and function as the normal cells in several different organs.

University of Maryland researchers previously developed a special culturing system to collect a select sample of these adult stem cells in bone marrow, which normally makes red and white blood cells and immune cells. In this project, the team followed a widely recognized study model, used to prove the multipotency of embryonic stem cells, to prove that these bone marrow stem cells could make more than just blood cells. The investigators also found that the CD34+ cells had a limited lifespan and did not produce teratomas, tumors that sometimes form with the use of embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells cultivated from other methods that require some genetic manipulation.

When taken at an early stage, we found that the CD34+ cells exhibited similar multipotent capabilities as embryonic stem cells, which have been shown to be the most flexible and versatile. Because these CD34+ cells already exist in normal bone marrow, they offer a vast source for potential cell replacement therapy, particularly because they come from a persons own body, eliminating the need to suppress the immune system, which is sometimes required when using adults stem cells derived from other sources, explains Paul Fishman, MD, PhD, professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The researchers say that proving the potential of these adult bone marrow stem cells opens new possibilities for scientific exploration, but that more research will be needed to see how this science can be translated to humans.

The results of this international collaboration show the important role that University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers play in advancing scientific understanding, investigating new avenues for the development of potentially life-changing treatments, says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

View original post here:
Study Results: Adult Stem Cells From Bone Marrow

Ed Reschke / Getty Images

A color-enhanced photograph of spongy (Cancellous) bone red bone marrow fills the space.

How much would it take for you to consider selling your bone marrow? A U.S. appeals court puts the price at about $3,000 in a ruling that now makes it legal to pay donors for their bone-marrow tissue.

The courts decision may well help thousands of sick patients who need bone-marrow transplants to survive, but it also begs the question, what other body parts might next be up for sale?

The ruling came about at the end of 2011, in a decision to an October 2009 lawsuit brought by a group of cancer patients, parents and bone-marrow donation advocates against the government over the federal law banning the buying and selling of bodily organs. The plaintiffs were led by Doreen Flynn, who has three daughters who suffer from Fanconi anemia, a blood disorder that requires bone-marrow transplants to treat. Flynn and the other plaintiffs said that too many such patients die waiting for transplants and argued that we should be allowed to pay people to donate their marrow as a way of ensuring a more reliable supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed.

(MORE: Facebook Now Lets Organ Donors Tell Their Friends)

At the core of the plaintiffs argument was the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA), which since 1984 has forbid the buying and selling of human organs, including bone marrow. But new developments in bone-marrow extraction have made marrow donation not much different from donating blood: traditionally, bone marrow donation required anesthesia and long needles to extract the marrow from the hipbones of donors. Now, a technique called peripheral apheresis allows doctors to extract blood stem cells directly from the blood, instead of the bone patients first take a drug that pulls stem cells from the bone and into the blood meaning that the marrow cells should be considered a fluid like blood, rather than an organ, the plaintiffs argued. NOTA doesnt prohibit payments for blood or other fluids, such as plasma or semen.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to ask the Supreme Court to review the appellate courts decision, which would have been the next step in overturning it. That means the ruling stands and that people can now be paid up to $3,000 for their marrow, as long as it is collected by apheresis. In a concession to the spirit of NOTA, however, the compensation cant be in cash; it needs to be in the form of a voucher that can be applied to things such as scholarships, education, housing or a donation to a charity.

While the decision applies only to the nine states covered by the Ninth Circuit court, and only to bone marrow obtained through apheresis, it does raise bigger questions about how we will look at organ donation in the future. With about 114,000 people waiting for organs in the U.S. alone on any given day, and only 3,300 donors, the urgent medical need runs up against moral standards of the value human life. Once we start paying for the parts we need, though, how far do we go? We dont allow people to buy and sell human beings, thats slavery, says Dr. Robert Klitzman, director of the bioethics program at Columbia University. Should we allow people to buy and sell human body parts?

(MORE: Where Do (Some) Babies Come From? In Washington, a New Law Bans Anonymous Sperm and Egg Donors)

Read more from the original source:
A Court Allows Payment for Bone Marrow. Should People Be Able to Sell Their Parts?

Ed Reschke / Getty Images

A color-enhanced photograph of spongy (Cancellous) bone red bone marrow fills the space.

How much would it take for you to consider selling your bone marrow? A U.S. appeals court puts the price at about $3,000 in a ruling that now makes it legal to pay donors for their bone-marrow tissue.

The courts decision may well help thousands of sick patients who need bone-marrow transplants to survive, but it also begs the question, what other body parts might next be up for sale?

The ruling came about at the end of 2011, in a decision to an October 2009 lawsuit brought by a group of cancer patients, parents and bone-marrow donation advocates against the government over the federal law banning the buying and selling of bodily organs. The plaintiffs were led by Doreen Flynn, who has three daughters who suffer from Fanconi anemia, a blood disorder that requires bone-marrow transplants to treat. Flynn and the other plaintiffs said that too many such patients die waiting for transplants and argued that we should be allowed to pay people to donate their marrow as a way of ensuring a more reliable supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed.

(MORE: Facebook Now Lets Organ Donors Tell Their Friends)

At the core of the plaintiffs argument was the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA), which since 1984 has forbid the buying and selling of human organs, including bone marrow. But new developments in bone-marrow extraction have made marrow donation not much different from donating blood: traditionally, bone marrow donation required anesthesia and long needles to extract the marrow from the hipbones of donors. Now, a technique called peripheral apheresis allows doctors to extract blood stem cells directly from the blood, instead of the bone patients first take a drug that pulls stem cells from the bone and into the blood meaning that the marrow cells should be considered a fluid like blood, rather than an organ, the plaintiffs argued. NOTA doesnt prohibit payments for blood or other fluids, such as plasma or semen.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to ask the Supreme Court to review the appellate courts decision, which would have been the next step in overturning it. That means the ruling stands and that people can now be paid up to $3,000 for their marrow, as long as it is collected by apheresis. In a concession to the spirit of NOTA, however, the compensation cant be in cash; it needs to be in the form of a voucher that can be applied to things such as scholarships, education, housing or a donation to a charity.

While the decision applies only to the nine states covered by the Ninth Circuit court, and only to bone marrow obtained through apheresis, it does raise bigger questions about how we will look at organ donation in the future. With about 114,000 people waiting for organs in the U.S. alone on any given day, and only 3,300 donors, the urgent medical need runs up against moral standards of the value human life. Once we start paying for the parts we need, though, how far do we go? We dont allow people to buy and sell human beings, thats slavery, says Dr. Robert Klitzman, director of the bioethics program at Columbia University. Should we allow people to buy and sell human body parts?

(MORE: Where Do (Some) Babies Come From? In Washington, a New Law Bans Anonymous Sperm and Egg Donors)

Here is the original post:
Paying for Bone Marrow: Should We Be Able to Sell Our Parts?

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Newman sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu 718-430-3101 Albert Einstein College of Medicine

July 2, 2012 -- (Bronx, NY) -- Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published today in the online edition of the journal Blood.

"Researchers have suspected that MDS is a 'stem cell disease,' and now we finally have proof," said co-senior author Amit Verma, M.B.B.S., associate professor of medicine and of developmental and molecular biology at Einstein and attending physician in oncology at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care. "Equally important, we found that even after MDS standard treatment, abnormal stem cells persist in the bone marrow. So, although the patient may be in remission, those stem cells don't die and the disease will inevitably return. Based on our findings, it's clear that we need to wipe out the abnormal stem cells in order to improve cure rates."

MDS are a diverse group of incurable diseases that affect the bone marrow and lead to low numbers of blood cells. While some forms of MDS are mild and easily managed, some 25 to 30 percent of cases develop into an aggressive disease called acute myeloid leukemia. Each year, about 10,000 to 15,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with MDS, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

Most cases of MDS occur in people over age 60, but the disease can affect people of any age and is more common in men than women. Symptoms vary widely, ranging from anemia to infections, fever and bleeding. Treatment usually involves chemotherapy to destroy abnormal blood cells plus supportive care such as blood transfusions.

In the current study, lead author Britta Will, Ph.D., research associate in the department of cell biology, and her colleagues analyzed bone marrow stem cells and progenitor cells (i.e., cells formed by stem cells) from 16 patients with various types of MDS and 17 healthy controls. The stem and progenitor cells were isolated from bone marrow using novel cell-sorting methods developed in the laboratory of co-senior author Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology and of medicine and the Diane and Arthur B. Belfer Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at Einstein.

Genome-wide analysis revealed widespread genetic and epigenetic alterations in stem and progenitor cells taken from MDS patients, in comparison to cells taken from healthy controls. The abnormalities were more pronounced in patients with types of MDS likely to prove fatal than in patients with lower-risk types.

"Our study offers new hope that MDS can be more effectively treated, with therapies that specifically target genes that are deregulated in early stem and progenitor cells," said Dr. Steidl. "In addition, our findings could help to detect minimal residual disease in patients in remission, allowing for more individualized treatment strategies that permanently eradicate the disease."

###

More here:
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) linked to abnormal stem cells

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 07:58 EST, 28 June 2012 | UPDATED: 08:44 EST, 28 June 2012

Robin Roberts' older sister has spoken out about being her sole bone marrow donor after learning she was a match.

Sally-Ann, who anchors a morning show in New Orleans, will be essential to her GMA host sister's treatments for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a blood and bone marrow disease.

The mother-of-three, 55, told the New York Post yesterday how she had been so desperate to be a match for her sister, she and her friends made a prayer circle around the test kit.

'We prayed, "please let this be a match,"' she admitted.

Perfect match: Sally-Ann Roberts, pictured with Robin earlier this month, has spoken about how she learned she would be her sister's sole bone marrow donor

She admitted: 'Im the big sister. Im the one whos supposed to be suffering because of age. But thats not the way it is.'

To donate her bone marrow, Sally-Ann explained that she will have five days of injections to boost her blood cell count, before her blood is passed through a machine that will extract the stem cells her sister, 51, so desperately needs.

'The way it is explained to me is that they will first have to knock out her immune system in order for my stem cells to be accepted by her body,' she said.

Read more here:
'We prayed that I'd be a match': Robin Roberts' sister Sally-Ann on learning she was the sole bone marrow donor

WWL-TVs Sally-Ann Roberts talks about her sisters health battle. Watch Richard Ford on The Colbert Report. TV tweet of the day so far.

TV Linkzilla Daily for 6/27/12 starts now.

When Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts announced June 11 that shed been diagnosed with a rare form of bone-marrow cancer MDS, or myelodysplastic syndrome -- and would undergo chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant, her sister, WWL-TV anchor Sally-Ann Roberts, was cast in a key recovery role.

Sally-Ann Roberts, it turned out, was a perfect match to be a bone-marrow-cell donor for her sister. The New Orleans anchors medical contribution wont come for weeks or perhaps months, but shes already begun efforts to raise awareness of the need for donors.

Her station has launched a Perfect Match Supporting Sally-Ann & Robin page on its website, which now holds several stories on the topic, including a Wednesday (June 27) piece in which WWL staffers sign up to join a bone-marrow registry.

An informational and registration phone-bank, staffed by volunteers from organ- and bone-marrow-donation organizations, will operate from 6-9 p.m. Thursday (June 28), in coordination with the stations morning news block.

In a recent interview, Sally-Ann Roberts said her match is a real blessing, because only 25 percent of people who need a bone-marrow transplant actually find a match among their siblings.

She continued:

The majority of people who need a bone marrow donor have to go outside of their family in order to find one. Sometimes it's like a needle in a haystack, and that's why Robin wants to use this challenge that she's facing right now to try to bring attention to the national narrow donor registry. Millions of people are part of it. If a person -- man woman or child -- is in search of a bone marrow donor they can go to this registry and have a chance to find one. There are many, many people who have used the registry successfully.

The only problem is that minorities are underrepresented in the donor registry. Unlike organ donations, where it really doesn't matter what the ethnic background of an individual is for an organ donation, bone marrow for stem cells has to be aligned with the person's genetic makeup. And that's why if you're African American you will find a match with another African American. Native Americans, the same thing. So that's why every racial group needs to be represented in the marrow-donor registry. That's what were trying to do. Were trying to direct people to BeTheMatch.org. If they do, they'll get a packet in the mail and will be able to do a swab, just the inside of their cheek, and will get a self-addressed stamped envelope. They mail it back with the required information. They may get a phone call, they may never get a phone call. But people who have done so -- I've gone online to listen to some of their stories -- they feel so grateful that they were able to reach out and help another individual in need.

Original post:
WWL-TV and Sally-Ann Roberts rally support for bone-marrow donor registry

A mother with three daughters who have Fanconi anemia sued the federal government for the right to compensate bone marrow donors. The U.S. Attorney General will not pursue the case with the Supreme Court, thus making a lower court's ruling law. That means bone marrow donors may now receive vouchers worth up to $3,000. NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

By JoNel Aleccia

Certain bone marrow donors could soon be compensated for their life-saving stem cells after federal officials declined to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, allowing a lower court order to become law.

At least one agency, MoreMarrowDonors.org, hopes to begin a pilot program offering up to $3,000 in scholarships, housing vouchers or charity donations -- but not cash -- in exchange for matching donations of marrow cells derived from blood.

This decision is a total game-changer, said Jeff Rowes, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which filed the lawsuit three years ago on behalf of cancer victims and others seeking bone marrow matches. Any donor, any doctor, any patient across the country can use compensation in order to get bone marrow donors.

That may be the effect of the decision by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to forgo a high court review of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that certain kinds of bone marrow donations are exempt from federal rules banning compensation.

Under the ruling, donors who provide marrow cells through a process similar to blood donation, called peripheral blood stem cell apheresis, can be compensated because those cells are no longer regarded as organs or organ parts as defined in the National Organ Transplant Act.

The ruling does not apply, however, to bone marrow obtained through traditional techniques that use a needle to aspirate the cells from the hip.

Although it applies only to nine states covered by the 9th Circuit Court, Rowes expects the effects to be felt nationwide.

The move met with praise from Doreen Flynn, 36, of Lewiston, Maine, the lawsuits namesake and the single mother of three daughters with an incurable blood disorder called Fanconi anemia.

The rest is here:
Bone marrow donors soon may be compensated

A mother with three daughters who have Fanconi anemia sued the federal government for the right to compensate bone marrow donors. The U.S. Attorney General will not pursue the case with the Supreme Court, thus making a lower court's ruling law. That means bone marrow donors may now receive vouchers worth up to $3,000. NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

By JoNel Aleccia

Certain bone marrow donors could soon be compensated for their life-saving stem cells after federal officials declined to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, allowing a lower court order to become law.

At least one agency, MoreMarrowDonors.org, hopes to begin a pilot program offering up to $3,000 in scholarships, housing vouchers or charity donations -- but not cash -- in exchange for matching donations of marrow cells derived from blood.

This decision is a total game-changer, said Jeff Rowes, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which filed the lawsuit three years ago on behalf of cancer victims and others seeking bone marrow matches. Any donor, any doctor, any patient across the country can use compensation in order to get bone marrow donors.

That may be the effect of the decision by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to forgo a high court review of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that certain kinds of bone marrow donations are exempt from federal rules banning compensation.

Under the ruling, donors who provide marrow cells through a process similar to blood donation, called peripheral blood stem cell apheresis, can be compensated because those cells are no longer regarded as organs or organ parts as defined in the National Organ Transplant Act.

The ruling does not apply, however, to bone marrow obtained through traditional techniques that use a needle to aspirate the cells from the hip.

Although it applies only to nine states covered by the 9th Circuit Court, Rowes expects the effects to be felt nationwide.

The move met with praise from Doreen Flynn, 36, of Lewiston, Maine, the lawsuits namesake and the single mother of three daughters with an incurable blood disorder called Fanconi anemia.

Visit link:
Bone marrow donors may be compensated after ruling stands

In just a few years, you might be able to grow your own replacement bones from stem cells.

Using pieces of human or animal bone as scaffolds, a Columbia University team has grown more than 50 healthy bones from stem cells -- the largest approximately 2.5 inches long. Among other specimens, the researchers produced a cheek bone, a small part of a femur bone, and a complex temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which is located in front of each ear and allows for chewing, speaking and smiling.

Using custom-built bioreactors housed at Columbia's Biomedical Engineering Lab, the process currently takes three to five weeks, and the team is working on a faster turnaround.

If we could grow this bone, we could do anything else, professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, who heads up the team, told FoxNews.com. Stem cells are very smart. They can make anything as long as you place them in the right conditions and send them the right signals.

While building the new bone matrix, the cells also break down and decompose the old scaffold. The end result is a fully regenerated bone.

It looks like bone, feels like bone and responds like bone, said Sidney Eisig, a mouth, jaw and neck surgeon who collaborates with the lab to provide data necessary for growing anatomically shaped bones.

- Columbia University professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

Cells that we use are the cells that make bones in our body normally, Vunjak-Novakovic said of the mesenchymal stem cells which reside in the bone marrow. Theyre constantly making and breaking bone. Similar to human skin, bone tissue is very metabolically active and regenerates quickly, which is why broken bones are able to heal. Bone tissue is actually easier to make than certain types of muscle, Vunjak-Novakovic explained. For example, the heart muscle is not designed to regenerate and is much harder to grow.

To prepare the scaffolds, Vunjak-Novakovics team thoroughly washed the animal bone pieces: first with water, which removed 99 percent of cellular material, then with special detergents to clean water resistant surfaces, and finally with enzymes to remove residual DNA from the cells nuclei. The result was a porous non-identifiable bone that could serve as a scaffold for any bone graft, including human.

They are also experimenting with synthetic silk scaffolds supplied by Tufts University.

View post:
Need a Bone? Grow Your Own!

Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: HBIO), a life sciences tools company, says the first two successful stem cells laryngotracheal transplants have been completed in Russia using the companys specially-designed bioreactor to grow the cells, which were taken from the patients bone marrow.

Last November, the Holliston, Mass.-based company announced that a simpler procedure, a tracheal transplant, had been completed using stem cells grown in the bioreactor. A few month later, the company announced that the recipient of the tracheal transplant, Christopher Lyle, had died.

The transplants, which required more than six months of preparation, were performed on the first two patients enrolled in an ongoing clinical trial at Krasnodar Regional Hospital in Russia. The company said the procedures are the result of a global collaboration involving organizations in the U.S., Sweden, Russia, Germany, and Italy. The patients were treated as part of a $4.8 million Russian government grant designed to foster international collaboration.

Both of the patients are under 35 and suffered severe damage to their tracheas due to car accidents and subsequent comas they sustained. The company said both patients were able to breathe and speak normally after the procedure.

Here is the original post:
Harvard Bioscience plays role in stem cell transplants

FOR THE PAST decade, two things have consumed large chunks of Malvern native Tom Kramer's time.

The first is his training regimen. Kramer, 46, is a practicing triathlete who will compete Saturday morning in the eighth annual Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon in Fairmount Park.

The second is the search for a bone-marrow match for his wife Pam, also a triathlete, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2000 and eventually willl need a bone marrow transplant.

At some point, Kramer made a creative decision to have those cumbersome obligations intersect. Desperate to spread the word about the importance of registering as a bone-marrow donor he estimates only 9 million people are registered Kramer embarked on a four-event quest over the span of 8 months to raise awareness.

"It was just me in the beginning," he said. "All I had was a banner and some testing kits."

Kramer completed a marathon, two Ironman half-triathlons and a full Ironman triathlon. Eventually his effort gained steam, finally culminating last year when the Kramers incorporated their hard work into the non-profit Racing to Register.

Using endurance sports as a platform, Racing to Register aims to enlarge the pool of potential donors for blood cancer patients in need of lifesaving bone marrow or stem cells.

"We think that the endurance part the reason we chose that platform is that you have to have a lot of endurance to go through that kind of treatment," Kramer said. "There is that marriage there if we can put ourselves through this, you can register."

Athletes that who join Team RTR complete the donor registration process and, in return, the program facilitates their endurance training through coaching, discounted gear and more.

While his wife's illness is what got him started, Kramer says the event has grown into something much bigger. With more than 2,100 registrants, RTR has produced four potential matches.

Read the original post:
Husband competes to raise awareness about bone-marrow registration

BANGALORE, June 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Adding an impetus to the already existing image of Bangalore being a healthcare destination of India, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur (CARHY), announced comprehensive bone marrow transplant (stem cell transplant) service on Thursday. This facility will give hope to many cancer patientsin and around Bangalore as there are very few hospitals in South India providing allogeneic transplant, which involves using stem cellsfrom a donor with a similar genetic makeup.

The bone marrow transplant (BMT) service will have a team of medical experts including clinical hematologist, oncologist, and other qualified doctors from allied specialties like pediatrics, infectious disease specialist and trained nurses for stem cell transplant, state-of-the-art HEPA filtered room, ICU, 24 hrs blood bank services and radiology services for providing comprehensive care during stem cell transplant.

Addressing the media, Dr. Nandakumar Jairam, Chairman and Group Medical Director, Columbia Asia Hospitals,said, "We are happy to announce allogenic bone marrow transplant service at our hospital in Yeshwanthpur, over and above the existing autologous transplant service. This will enhance comprehensive bone marrow transplant treatment delivery; a dire need for the people of Karnataka and neighbouring states. This will also help many international patients who look for such a treatment in India."

"This facility is dedicated to providing end-to-end services including expert counsel from a clinical hematologist and an entire team of doctors and nurses providing the latest in medical advances to those suffering from blood cancer and some non-cancerous conditions affecting thebone marrow," said Dr. Satish, Consultant in Clinical Hematology, Columbia Asia Hospitals.

"Bone marrow transplant, also called hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), is a treatment optionfor certain cancers. With this launch, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital Yeshwanthpur becomes one among the very few centers in India to offer allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Till now, we were doing only autologous transplants which involved the usage of the patient's own stem cells. Now, we will be able to manage conditions like high risk leukemia's, myelomas and lymphomas," said Dr Satish.

"Some of the most effective treatments for cancer such as chemotherapy and radiation are toxic to the bone marrow.The marrow produces different cells that make up the blood such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The stem cells from the bone marrow are extracted before the administration of high dose chemotherapy and then reintroduced or transplanted to the patient so that blood cell production process is re-established in the bone marrow," addedDr Neelesh Reddy, Consultant Medical Oncology, Columbia Asia Hospitals.

In fact earlier stem cells were collected only from the bone marrow in the hip bones under general anesthesia. However with advanced technology and medical supervision stem cells can now be collected from peripheral blood after giving injections. Stem cells are then harvested by simple procedure called apheresis, (in the same way as dialysis is done) and the rest of the blood is returned to the person.

Read this article:
Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwantpur Announces a Comprehensive Bone Marrow Transplant Service

Kolkata, June 20 : Long-time exposure to pesticides via inhalation may cause moderate to severe blood toxicity and reduction in the total number of bone marrow cells, leading to several degenerative diseases like aplastic anaemia, researchers at the School of Tropical Medicine (STM) here say.

The researches arrived at the conclusion from procedures performed on mice.

"As a whole, exposure to pesticides reduced the total number of bone marrow cells or, in other words, suppressed them," Sujata Law, assistant professor (Stem Cell Biology) at STM's Department of Medical Biotechnology, told IANS.

Bone marrow is the soft, flexible tissue found in long bones such as the thigh bone and the hip bone that contain immature cells called stem cells.

Stem cells, particularly the haematopoeitic stem cells (HSC) or the blood-forming stem cells can develop into the following types - red blood cells that carry oxygen, white blood cells that fight infection and platelets that help to clot blood.

So, in effect, bone marrow is the birthplace of these important cells.

"Bone marrow suppression leads to a number of degenerative diseases like aplastic anaemia, where the deficiency in the number of cells in the circulating blood (peripheral cytopenia) is the main feature," Law said.

The exact underlying mechanism is unknown but it has been concluded from the research published in the Journal of Environmental Toxicology that the microenvironment of the stem cells, in which they develop, is somehow deranged and this prevents their development into the various types of cells.

"In order to prevent degenerative diseases related to pesticide exposure, it is of prime importance that those handling pesticides take precautions like wearing protective clothing, including masks and gloves," she said.

"Also pesticides should be stored in properly labelled containers, away from food, and kept out of reach of children and animals," Law said. (IANS)

Continued here:
Long-term pesticide exposure is harmful: STM study

French scientists revive stem cells of dead people

A group from the Pasteur Institute was able to reactivate muscle stem cells from deceased persons after 17 days, which functioned normally after transplant...

by Fabrice Chretien

French scientists were able to revive stem cells of muscle and bone marrow from persons who were already dead for 17 days, reports the journal Nature Communications in a paper released on Wednesday (13th) in France.

A team of researchers from the Pasteur Institute demonstrated that it is possible to reactivate the muscle stem cells from human cadavers and transplant them to make new ones born in perfect condition.

The scientists found that these cells did not die with the person. That's because they reduced their activity to a minimum and, after discarding the mitochondria (small bodies that help with breathing), were in a state of hibernation.

Thus, cells could survive even in an environment so hostile, without oxygen and in the middle of an acid bath, as well as in the case of a muscle injury, "sleeping and waiting out the storm," as Professor Fabrice Chrtien affirmed to the newspaper Libration.

"This reserve of stem cells could serve to make bone marrow transplants used to treat leukemia and blood diseases, among other conditions. They could also address the lack of donors," said Chretien, who led the study alongside researcher, Shahragim Tajbakhsh.

Despite the advances that have also been successfully tested in rats, the experiment showed an increase of one type of substance called ROS, which, in turn, has an incompatibility with the cells and genome, Professor Jean-Marc Lemaitre pointed out to the paper, Le Figaro. Due to this fact, the study still needs to determine whether these new cells, even in perfect condition, can hide still undetected malformations.

Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Read this article:
French scientists revive stem cells of dead people

BETHEL, Vt. -

Amelia Lincoln loves to garden. But so far this planting season, she has had to sit it out.

"It's been a long haul and we try to keep a pretty positive attitude about everything. So, I generally could feel worse right now," she said.

Lincoln's immune system is fragile. For the past six weeks, she has been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

"I have acute myelogenous leukemia," she said. "I have a leukemia that came back after a stem cell transplant two years ago."

She had been in remission, but the aggressive cancer in her bone marrow is back.

"It's a change of priorities, but what would anyone say if their spouse was sick," husband James Patterson said.

Lincoln needs another transplant at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. But right now, she has yet to find the perfect match.

"We used to use bone marrow specifically for a bone marrow transplant. Nowadays, we can use medicines to stimulate a patient's bone marrow cells into the blood. We can collect those bone marrow cells in the blood-- called peripheral blood stem cells-- and use those cells for the transplant," said Dr. Kenneth Meehan of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

A donor drive Tuesday in Randolph Center could increase Amelia's odds. No needles-- just a swab.

Visit link:
Bethel woman waits for marrow match

A FAMILY is waiting anxiously to see whether a bone marrow transplant, made possible by a rare prison transfer, has saved a boy's life.

Gao Yong, who began a 10-year sentence for burglary in 2005, was allowed to travel to donate bone marrow stem cells for his nine-year-old son, Jun Jie, who has leukemia.

Gao, who had been serving his sentence in east China's Zhejiang Province, was transferred to a prison in southwest Guizhou Province to be closer to the Xinqiao Hospital in Chongqing where Jun Ji had been taken after all possible treatments in his hometown of Zunyi in Guizhou had been exhausted.

Jun Jie was diagnosed with leukemia around the end of 2011.

Doctors at Xinqiao said Jun Jie required a bone marrow transplant, but tests showed none of his other family members were a match. His only hope was his father.

In February, after a blood sample was sent to the jail holding Gao some two hours away by air, good news came back - they matched.

Too weak to travel

"At that time, Jun Jie had become too weak to travel, so I went to judicial departments both in Zhejiang and Guizhou to persuade them to transfer his father to the Xinqiao Hospital,'' his mother Luo Jing said.

In March, Gao was transferred to the prison in Guizhou to prepare for the operation. On June 9, 10 officers escorted Gao to Chongqing.

It is very rare for a prisoner to come out of their assigned jail for as long as a week, noted the head of the escort team.

Link:
Eastday-Rare jail move to save a son

Unveilling stem cells

LAWRENCE SERETSE Correspondent

Cryo-Save, the European company that intends to establish the first stem cell bank in Botswana says stem cells do not have just one function. They can themselves become or create other types of cells such as blood cells, brain cells, tissue cells, muscle cells and the like. Stem cells can be found in every person but they are much more numerous in the body of a foetus.

There are three types of stem cell banking namely, the baby stem cell banking which is the preservation and storage of cord blood and umbilical cord tissue. Adult stem cell banking is the preservation and storage of peripheral blood (from blood stream for bone marrow transplants) and fatty tissue stem cells.

The reproductive cell banking deals with the preservation and storage of eggs and sperm for future fertility treatments or artificial insemination purposes. Studying stem cells helped humans understand how they transform into the dazzling array of specialised cells that make us what we are. Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are caused by problems that occur somewhere in this process. A better understanding of normal cell development has allowed scientists to understand and perhaps correct the errors that cause these medical conditions. Many support stem cell research because it has the potential to provide solutions to a wide variety of medical conditions and diseases.

Stem cell research could even lead to a cure for some of the most traumatic injuries and diseases. Stem cell treatments cure over 70 diseases and disorders like Leukemia, Lymphoma, blood cancers, bone marrow disorders like Aplastic anaemia, sickle cell, Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, heart disease, stroke, birth defects, spinal cord injuries, ability to replace or repair organs and cancer.

This is just half of it. If one just looked at the benefits one might wonder why stem cell treatments are not in wide use. The shortcomings of stem cell research are often fears of what could result from such knowledge and the moral implications of using the stem cells. There are worries that humans should not try to play God. "Relating bodies have to pay extra caution and determine if we really need these banks. Again, some researchers may be coming to dig stem cells in Botswana, since there maybe restrictive laws in their countries.

"The unsuspecting citizens may end up giving up their stem cells for money," says Iqbal Chand, the CEO of Diagnofirm Medical Laboratories. He gave a scenario from recent publications that a patient in Berlin was cleared of HIV after stem cell treatment for leukemia.

"We do not even know how true it is and if it was the stem cells that cured his HIV. Even if it is, it is one person in a million so there is no assurance," Chand pointed out.

Another big issue with stem cells research is superstition. In most African communities, the umbilical cord must be buried after birth because it is believed that anyone with access to it could exert some spiritual influence on the child. This has led to uncertainty towards cord tissue and cord blood storage in most African societies. However, with the success of transplants making the headlines, more and more people are willing to donate adult stem cells to save lives.

See the original post:
Unveilling stem cells

wwltv.com

Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Updated today at 6:12 PM

Meg Farris / Eyewitness News Email: mfarris@wwltv.com | Twitter: @megfarriswwl

NEWORLEANS- She was only in kindergarten when doctors gave her family the bad news.

Now she's one of the first in Louisiana to try a new treatment for people who get gravely ill after a bone marrow transplant.

The last three years of Sami Smith's life have been physically and emotionally painful.

"I literally, they try to scare me and they can't, because I've been through the scariest thing that you can," said Smith, 9, of Ponchatoula.

Her mother noticed she was napping more and bruising. Doctors diagnosed AML, a type of leukemia or blood cancer. Had she not gotten to the doctor then, she would not have made it much longer. A Child's Wish sent her to Disney World. The good news, one of her teen sisters Mary Hannah, 13, was a good bone marrow match. The transplant worked and Sami was cancer free.

Then devastating news. Sami got a condition called GvHD (Graft-versus-host disease) where the new marrow launches a painful attack on the recipient's body. It's the leading cause of transplant-related death.

More:
Stem cell treatment offers hope to those sickened after getting bone marrow

Highly-magnified red blood cells course through a vein. Picture: file Source: Supplied

DOCTORS in Sweden successfully replaced a potentially-fatal blocked vein in a 10-year-old girl with one grown from her own stem cells, according to a study published today.

The team - from the University of Gothenburg andSahlgrenska University Hospital - accomplished the feat by populating a section of vein from a dead donor using stem cells gleaned from the girl's bone barrow.

"The new stem-cells-derived graft resulted not only in good blood flow rates and normal laboratory test values but also, in strikingly improved quality of life for the patient," the study's authors wrote in The Lancet.

The successful feat also "opens interesting new areas of research," they added.

The operation marked the latest step in scientists' ability to create replacement organs for transplant.

In 2010, doctors at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital made history by successfully transplanting a donor windpipe into a young boy, also aged 10, that was regenerated inside his body using his own stem cells.

In the latest instance, a 3.5-inch (9cm) section of groin vein from the donor was stripped of any living cells and "recellularised" with new cells grown from stem cells taken from the girl's bone marrow.

Techniques that use stem cells from a patient's own body carry the major benefit that they do not provoke an immune response. In the Swedish case, one alternative treatment option was a liver transplant, which would have required a lifetime of immunosuppressants. The work was funded by the Swedish government.

Visit link:
Vein grown from girl's stem cells