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.

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Vein grown from 10-year-old girl's stem cells

LONDON: Scientists have successfully transplanted a vein made from a 10-year-old girl's own stem cells into her body. It is the first time such an operation has been reported and marks an important step in the practical ability of doctors to use stem cells to grow replacement cells for damaged or diseased tissue.

Writing in the medical journal The Lancet, a team led by Professor Suchitra Sumitran-Holdgersson, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, described how the girl had a blocked hepatic portal vein, which takes blood away from the gut and spleen to the liver.

The blockage can lead to complications including internal bleeding, developmental problems and even death. The usual treatment for the condition is to remove the blocked vein and replace it with sections of healthy vein from other parts of the body.

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The team instead grew a vein for the young girl using her own bone marrow stem cells.

They started with a nine-centimetre section of vein taken from the groin of a donor and stripped it of its cells, leaving behind a tubular protein scaffold. This was seeded with the girl's stem cells and the resulting vein was transplanted into the girl.

The procedure restored blood flow out of her liver immediately.

''The patient increased in height from 137 to 143 centimetres and increased in weight from 30 to 35 kilograms in the one year since the first operation,'' the authors wrote. ''Although we undertook no neurocognitive tests, the parents reported that the patient had enhanced physical activity (increased long distance walks of two to three kilometres and light gymnastics) and improved articulated speech and concentration power in school activities.''

Nine months after the operation, the vein had constricted slightly in size and this was corrected in a follow-up procedure. Most significantly, scientists found no antibodies for the donor vein in the girl's blood. Her body was not rejecting the transplant because it was recognised as being made of her own cells.

''The young girl in this report was spared the trauma of having veins harvested from the deep neck or leg with the associated risk of lower limb disorders, and avoided the need for a liver or multivisceral transplantation,'' Professors Martin Birchall and George Hamilton of University College London wrote in an accompanying commentary article in The Lancet.

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Girl gets vein grown from her own stem cells for transplant

By Makiko Kitamura - 2012-06-13T22:30:00Z

The first vein grown from a patients own stem cells was successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl, potentially offering a way for those lacking healthy veins to undergo dialysis or heart bypass surgery.

A team led by Michael Olausson of the University of Gothenburg took a 9-centimeter (3.5-inch) segment of vein from a human donor and removed all living cells, the Swedish researchers wrote in a study in The Lancet medical journal today. The resulting protein scaffolding was injected with stem cells from the girls bone marrow, and two weeks later was implanted in the patient, who had a blockage in the vein that carries blood from the spleen and intestines to the liver.

The result points to what may be a safer source of stem cells, the building blocks of life which can grow into any type of tissue in the body. Using cells from the patient may limit the risk that the immune system would attack the transplant, which can occur with tissue taken from healthy people and given to the sick. The girl hasnt developed signs of rejection, even without taking drugs to suppress her immune system, the researchers said.

The successful procedure establishes the feasibility and safety of a novel paradigm for treatment, the researchers wrote in the study. Our work opens interesting new areas of research, including trying to reproduce arteries for surgical use in patients.

The recipient had no complications from the operation, and a year later, has grown 6 centimeters and gained 5 kilograms (11 pounds) in weight.

Olausson and colleagues report suggests that tissue- engineered vascular grafts are promising, but one-off experiences such as the procedure they describe need to be converted into full clinical trials in key target populations, Martin Birchall and George Hamilton, professors at the University College London, wrote in a commentary accompanying the Lancet publication.

The study was funded by the Swedish government.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in London at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

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First Vein Grown From Human Stem Cells Transplanted

BOCA RATON, Fla., June 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts' decision to go public with the fact that she has a rare blood disorder was courageous and sheds light on the need for more bone marrow donors in the United States.

"In Robin's case, her sister turned out to be a perfect match, but the fact is, about two out of every three patients who need a transplant won't find a match in their family and will need to reach out to strangers to help save their lives," said Jay Feinberg, CEO of Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, an international bone marrow registry based in Boca Raton, FL.

Approximately 10,000 people are diagnosed each year with a blood disease in which a bone marrow transplant could save their life, yet only half receive one. That is why the more people who are willing to donate, the better the chance of saving a life.

Feinberg knows that all too well. He was diagnosed with Leukemia in the early 1990s. He found his match in 1995 after more than 50,000 people were tested worldwide. He turned that grassroots movement into the not-for-profit Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to get more donors into the worldwide registry and educate the public on the importance of donating. For its part, Gift of Life has facilitated more than 2,500 matches in its history and entered more than 200,000 people into the registry.

"It only takes one match to save a life, and that's what keeps us passionate and focused every day," said Feinberg, who found his match from a young woman who registered at the very last marrow drive organized for him. "The fact that someone as high profile as Robin Roberts is willing to share her personal story with the world will create a lot of new interest in people willing to become donors and to that end, that's a very positive thing. We wish her well in her upcoming treatments."

Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, through its network of life-saving volunteers, organizes dozens of bone marrow drives per year around the world. Feinberg said becoming a donor is easy. A cotton swab is rubbed on the inside of the mouth to collect cells used for tissue typing. That information is then entered into the registry where anyone needing a transplant can turn to see if they find someone compatible. If a match is made, the donor is notified by phone and then undergoes one more test to confirm he or she is a perfect match. If so, the donor then undergoes a complete physical exam, and then the donation procedure, which involves either the taking of blood stem cells from the arms, or bone marrow from the hip. Those life-saving cells are then transplanted into the sick patient. The donor's marrow will eventually replenish itself. On average, one in 1,000 of Gift of Life donors is asked to donate every year.

For more information on bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants, and to see answers to frequently asked questions, please log onto http://www.giftoflife.org.

About the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation

Gift of Life helps children and adults suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers and genetic disorders find donors for blood and marrow transplants. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Gift of Life is an internationally recognized bone marrow, blood stem cell, and umbilical cord blood registry. Through its life-saving work, Gift of Life is a world leader helping children and adults find the matches they need when they need them. For more information log on to http://www.giftoflife.org.

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Robin Roberts' Personal Story Highlights Need for More Bone Marrow Donors in the United States

June 12, 2012

The use of stem-cells building-block cells that are harvested from embryos or adults to treat heart disease could rely on faith as much as it does science, after billions of dollars in research has not produced the results that researchers have been looking for.

Questions and concerns on the topic arose during the recent opening of the multi-million-dollar Scottish Center for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) in Edinburgh, chaired by Sir Ian Wilmut, the renowned scientist whose Dolly the sheep clone in 1996, was a groundbreaking step in stem cell technology.

During the opening ceremonies of the Center, Christine Mummery of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands discussed how a 2001 claim, based on mice experimentation, indicated that bone-marrow cells could mend heart damaged by coronary disease, caused a mad rush of people to the clinics looking for a cure-all.

With nothing in the way of systematic research in animals, the first patients were being treated within a year, prematurely by Mummerys account. She argued that the paper that launched the mass stampede was completely wrong, and subsequent studies proved that. But despite the findings, the 2001 paper has never been withdrawn.

Norwegian professor Harald Arnesen in 2007 voiced his concerns over those heart trials as well. He concluded that they were not convincing and that one German team had achieved striking results only because the control group had done particularly badly. Arnesen called for a moratorium on this kind of stem-cell therapy, based on that research.

But neither Arnesen, nor Mummery, could deter clinicians. Another trial, the largest to date, began in January 2012 and included 3,000 heart-attack patients recruited from across Europe. The trial was funded by the European Union as well.

The idea behind the trials is straightforward. During a heart attack, a clogged blood vessel starves heart muscle of oxygen. Up to a billion heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, can be damaged, and the body responds by replacing them with relatively inflexible scar tissue, which can lead to fatal heart failure.

What is notably surprising, explained Mummery, is that stem cells come in many different forms: Embryonic stem cells are the building-blocks of the body and have the potential to turn into all 200 cell types found in the human body. Adult stem cells, however, are limited in what they can do. For example, bone marrow stem cells only generate blood cells.

So, the 2001 study claiming that bone marrow stem cells could turn into healthy heart muscle was a surprising and exciting claim, although a bold move.

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Some Stem-Cells May Not Be The Answer For Heart Disease

Getty Images file

By Lisa Flam

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts made some news of her own today: Shes been diagnosed with a rare blood and bone marrow disease called myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a condition once known as pre-leukemia. Roberts, a breast cancer survivor, said she received the diagnosis several months ago and will receive a bone marrow transplant from her older sister later this year.My doctors tell me Im going to beat this and I know its true,she wrotewhen she announced her diagnosis. MDS is a pre-cancerous disorder half way between benign and malignant, said Dr. Martin Tallman, chief of the leukemia service at New Yorks Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It occurs when the bone marrow produces blood cells that break apart and disintegrate when they enter the blood stream.

When the marrow produces blood cells, theyre cracked, theyre fragile and faulty and they disappear, he said.Those disappearing blood cells leave patients with a low blood count, Tallman told msnbc.com, which can leave patients feeling fatigued from anemia, susceptible to infections like pneumonia and suffering from internal bleeding. The condition is curable, though it can also lead to fatal complications, primarily through infection, and some MDS patients develop leukemia.

MDS is more common in people over 60, and in most cases, doctors dont know why they developed the disorder, though genetic changes that take place as people get older are thought to be the cause. A minority of MDS patients develop the disorder following chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

Sometimes treatment for cancer can lead to other serious medical issues and thats what Im facing right now, Roberts said on the air this morning, noting that she beat breast cancer five years ago. Tallman explains that as chemotherapy drugs are killing cancer cells, they can also cause genetic changes in healthy cells, which can lead to whats called treatment-related MDS. We are able to cure certain disease but we pay a price, he said.

About 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with MDS in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society. The number of cases of MDS is rising, according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering website, because there is a growing population of older people, and because patients are living longer after being treated for their first cancer.

For years, patients with MDS were treated with antibiotics and blood transfusions, but three new types of chemotherapy drugs to fight MDS became available starting in about 2004, said Tallman, a hematologist-oncologist.They are effective in about 30 percent to 40 percent of patients, he said. Some patients dont require treatments at all and can live with the disease; others are cured with the chemotherapy drugs alone. The only proven cure for MDS is a stem cell transplant, Tallman said, describing what it also called a bone marrow transplant.

Roberts says she is beginning a pre-treatment regimen of chemotherapy today before undergoing the bone marrow transplant. Her doctors gave her a good outlook, she wrote.

They say Im younger and fitter than most people who confront this disease and will be cured.

Originally posted here:
'GMA' host Roberts on illness: 'I will beat this'

By Jacque Wilson, CNN

updated 1:44 PM EDT, Tue June 12, 2012

2009: Robin Roberts on her cancer

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Robin Roberts' battle against myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, is just beginning. The "Good Morning America" anchor will undergo chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant later this year.

"Bone marrow donors are scarce and particularly for African-American women," Roberts wrote Monday. "I am very fortunate to have a sister who is an excellent match, and this greatly improves my chances for a cure."

More than 10,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blood-related disorders every year, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Often the best treatment is a bone marrow transplant. During the procedure, a donor's stem cells are directly transfused into the sick patient's bloodstream. The patient's new cells multiply over time to create healthy bone marrow.

Unfortunately, the chance of finding a match on the national registry is as low as 66% for African-Americans and other minorities, compared with 93% for Caucasians.

Be the Match, the national registry, has 10 million potential donors, but only 7% are African-American. While the percentage is comparable to the overall African-American population in the United States (which is 12%), the registry is meeting only about a third of the needs for African-American transplants, said Dr. Jeffrey Chell, CEO of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Tuskegee's ghosts: Fear hinders black marrow donation

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Robin Roberts found a match, but others likely won't be as lucky

By Jacque Wilson, CNN

updated 1:44 PM EDT, Tue June 12, 2012

2009: Robin Roberts on her cancer

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Robin Roberts' battle against myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, is just beginning. The "Good Morning America" anchor will undergo chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant later this year.

"Bone marrow donors are scarce and particularly for African-American women," Roberts wrote Monday. "I am very fortunate to have a sister who is an excellent match, and this greatly improves my chances for a cure."

More than 10,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blood-related disorders every year, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Often the best treatment is a bone marrow transplant. During the procedure, a donor's stem cells are directly transfused into the sick patient's bloodstream. The patient's new cells multiply over time to create healthy bone marrow.

Unfortunately, the chance of finding a match on the national registry is as low as 66% for African-Americans and other minorities, compared with 93% for Caucasians.

Be the Match, the national registry, has 10 million potential donors, but only 7% are African-American. While the percentage is comparable to the overall African-American population in the United States (which is 12%), the registry is meeting only about a third of the needs for African-American transplants, said Dr. Jeffrey Chell, CEO of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Tuskegee's ghosts: Fear hinders black marrow donation

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Roberts found match; many not as lucky

By Jacque Wilson, CNN

updated 1:44 PM EDT, Tue June 12, 2012

2009: Robin Roberts on her cancer

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Robin Roberts' battle against myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, is just beginning. The "Good Morning America" anchor will undergo chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant later this year.

"Bone marrow donors are scarce and particularly for African-American women," Roberts wrote Monday. "I am very fortunate to have a sister who is an excellent match, and this greatly improves my chances for a cure."

More than 10,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blood-related disorders every year, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Often the best treatment is a bone marrow transplant. During the procedure, a donor's stem cells are directly transfused into the sick patient's bloodstream. The patient's new cells multiply over time to create healthy bone marrow.

Unfortunately, the chance of finding a match on the national registry is as low as 66% for African-Americans and other minorities, compared with 93% for Caucasians.

Be the Match, the national registry, has 10 million potential donors, but only 7% are African-American. While the percentage is comparable to the overall African-American population in the United States (which is 12%), the registry is meeting only about a third of the needs for African-American transplants, said Dr. Jeffrey Chell, CEO of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Tuskegee's ghosts: Fear hinders black marrow donation

See the rest here:
Roberts found a match -- others won't be as lucky

By Jacque Wilson, CNN

updated 1:44 PM EDT, Tue June 12, 2012

2009: Robin Roberts on her cancer

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Robin Roberts' battle against myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, is just beginning. The "Good Morning America" anchor will undergo chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant later this year.

"Bone marrow donors are scarce and particularly for African-American women," Roberts wrote Monday. "I am very fortunate to have a sister who is an excellent match, and this greatly improves my chances for a cure."

More than 10,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blood-related disorders every year, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Often the best treatment is a bone marrow transplant. During the procedure, a donor's stem cells are directly transfused into the sick patient's bloodstream. The patient's new cells multiply over time to create healthy bone marrow.

Unfortunately, the chance of finding a match on the national registry is as low as 66% for African-Americans and other minorities, compared with 93% for Caucasians.

Be the Match, the national registry, has 10 million potential donors, but only 7% are African-American. While the percentage is comparable to the overall African-American population in the United States (which is 12%), the registry is meeting only about a third of the needs for African-American transplants, said Dr. Jeffrey Chell, CEO of the National Marrow Donor Program.

Tuskegee's ghosts: Fear hinders black marrow donation

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Roberts found a match -- others won't

The cure that helped Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts beat breast cancer may have caused the new disease shes battling, experts said Monday.

And before Roberts undergoes a bone marrow transplant to combat MDS, or myelodysplastic syndrome, she will need to subject her already weakend body to even more chemotherapy.

I know it seems counterintuitive, said Dr. Azra Raza, who heads the MDS Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. But this is the only way we know how to get rid of these damaged cells before we can start treatment.

MDS is a disease of the blood and bone marrow that if left untreated can lead to leukemia and death.

It is a relatively rare condition, said Raza. The are 15,000 cases diagnosed annually every year in the U.S.

Patients who have been exposed to benzene or who have undergone chemotherapy or radiation treatments for cancer are the most susceptible to MDS, said Azra.

Sometimes stem cells are damaged during radiation or chemotherapy, Raza said. MDS is a bad disease to have.

There are different degrees of severity, added Robert Bona, Professor of Medical Sciences at Quinnipiac University. The ones that are most severe are treated with bone marrow transplants, if theyre young enough and a donor can be found.

Bone marrow donors are scarce, especially for African-American women.

Luckily for Roberts, her sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at a New Orleans TV station, is a match. And the 51-year-old newscasters age and otherwise good physical condition greatly improve her chances of licking this disease, the experts said.

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Robin Roberts’ breast cancer cure may have caused new illness

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"Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts announced this morning that she has myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. The syndrome is also known as preleukemia.

MDS can be broken down by its name: Myeloid refers to a type of blood cell; dysplasia means a problem with the development of those cells.

The condition occurs when "something goes wrong in your bone marrow -- the spongy material inside your bones where blood cells are made," according to the Mayo Clinic.

A healthy person's bone marrow produces stem cells that mature into blood cells. But the bone marrow of a person with MDS produces abnormal stem cells that turn into defective blood cells.

Deformed cells get into the bloodstream and eventually outnumber healthy blood cells, according to the National Cancer Institute. Often the deformed blood cells don't live as long as they should, producing a shortage in the body.

There are several types of MDS, depending on the kind of myeloid cells - red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets - that are being affected. Having too few red blood cells results in anemia; having too few white blood cells can result in frequent infections.

The term "preleukemia" is a bit misleading, as most MDS cases do not become cancerous. Certain types of MDS can progress to acute myeloid leukemia, however.

MDS can be caused by exposure to chemotherapy and radiation, common cancer treatments. (Roberts is a breast cancer survivor.)

Symptoms are rare during the early stage of the disease, but can include tiredness, shortness of breath and easy bruising/bleeding. Doctors generally diagnose through a blood test and a bone marrow biopsy.

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What is preleukemia or MDS?

061112_RobinRobertsABC_ftrGood Morning America host Robin Roberts announced June 11 that she was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a blood disorder affecting the stem cells in the bone marrow. Celebrities and first lady Michelle Obama have already offered their support on Twitter!

Robin Robertshas a special connection to The Obamas: She found out she was interviewingPresident Obama on the very same day she underwent a painful bone marrow extraction. The combination of landing the biggest interview of my career and having a drill in my back reminds me that God only gives us what we can handle and that it helps to have a good sense of humor when we run smack into the absurdity of life, Robin wrote on her blog. And First Lady Michelle Obama was quick to offer her condolences to the GMA host.

.@RobinRoberts, Barack and I have you in our prayers. We believe in you and thank you for bringing awareness and hope to others. mo, Michelletweeted June 11.

Heres what other celebs tweeted about Robin:

prayers for Robin Roberts tweeted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

We all love you & are cheering you on!! tweeted fellow journalist Katie Couric.

I wish my friend@RobinRobertsthe strength, faith & love she will need on this new journey. I send all that and more. tweeted Maria Shriver.

More on Robin Roberts:

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Michelle Obama & More Celebs Tweet At Robin Roberts After MDS Diagnosis

"Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts, who five years ago beat breast cancer, said Monday that she has now been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder caused by chemotherapy for her cancer. She is now taking chemotherapy in preparation for receiving a bone marrow transplant from her sister later this year. Because she is relatively young and healthy, the combination of treatments should cure the condition, doctors have told her.

Myelodysplastic syndrome is sometimes known as pre-leukemia, and many researchers now believe that, if untreated, it will progress to acute myeloid leukemia. It most commonly strikes people between the ages of 58 and 75, but can occur at any age, particularly if the patient has had cancer chemotherapy. It is estimated to affect as many as 50 Americans per 100,000, with about 20,000 new cases each year.

It is a disease of the bone marrow -- the semi-liquid tissue inside bones that produces blood cells. Stem cells in the bone marrow develop into two types of cells, myeloid and lymphoid. Lymphoid cells go on to become white blood cells that fight infections. Myeloid cells develop into three different types of cells: red blood cells, which carry oxygen; platelets, which control bleeding by forming clots; and white blood cells. In myeloplastic syndrome the myeloid cells stop developing; they do not function normally and either die in the bone marrow or soon after they enter the blood. The dysfunctional cells crowd out healthy cells.

Symptoms are often not apparent, but can include shortness of breath, weakness or tiredness, pale skin, easy bruising and bleeding, and fever or frequent infections. The best treatment for the type of disorder Roberts is suffering is to kill all the stem cells with chemotherapy, then replace them with functioning stem cells from a donor -- in this case, her sister. Treatment is usually more effective when the disorder has been caused by chemotherapy.

Roberts announced her condition on the show and on the ABC blog, saying she will continue her job at "Good Morning America" and that "My doctors tell me Im going to beat this and I know its true."

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'Good Morning America' co-host Robin Roberts has blood disorder

Good Morning America host Robin Roberts announced on Monday June 11 that she was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a blood disorder affecting the stem cells in the bone marrow. Find out all the details on the disease!

Robin Roberts bravely announced to the world on Monday June 11 that she has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, formerly known as preleukemia. The GMA host held back tears as she held her co-hosts hands and revealed her painful secret that shes held for more than a month. MDS is a blood-related condition that involves ineffective production of the myeloid class of blood cells.It is a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow, she said.

Left without a transplant, the disease worsens and the patient develops low blood counts due to progressive bone marrow failure. Found mostly in patients between 60 and 75, Robin was diagnosed at the age of 51-years-old leaving her with a good prognosis.

Symptoms can involve severe anemia and require frequent blood transfusions. The mean life-expectancy is 18 to 24 months in mild cases of MDS or even longer when stem cell transplantation is done, but all cases vary.

Robin, who has experienced a series of highs and lows throughout her career, announced that her sister, Sally-Ann Roberts, would be her donor! I am blessed, Robin said because her sister is a virtually perfect bone marrow match. Thankfully,Robins doctors are optimistic of her recovery!My doctors tell me Im going to beat this and I know its true, Robin said.

Success of bone marrow transplantation has been found to correlate with severity of MDS.

Famous patients with MDS include astronomerCarl SaganandwriterRoald Dahl(James and the Giant Peach,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,) and more.

We wish Robin the best and will be rooting for her throughout her treatments!

HollywoodLifers, do you know someone with MDS? Tell us your story below!

The rest is here:
Robin Roberts Diagnosed With MDS — Details on Her Disease

COLUMBUS, Ga. --

Every year, thousands of people like Noah Hein are diagnosed with blood cancers such as leukemia. A bone marrow or cord blood transplant can save their lives. The patients who do not have a donor in their family, depend on the National Marrow Donor Program and its Be the Match Registry. At this donor drive in honor of Noah , Jimmy Dawes was the 100th person to walk in and join the registry.

I saw the story and read the story about Noah and it touched my heart personally because my father lost a battle with leukemia when I was 14 so it kind of hit home for me personally, says Dawes.

After filling out the paper work, you simply swab your cheeks. Doctors will be looking for a tissue match, specifically the human leukocyte antigen or HLA. HLAs are proteins, or markers found on most cells in your body.

Roderick Gunn works for the National Marrow Donor Program.

If your tissue type comes up as a match, you would then be asked to submit a blood sample, so we could do confirmatory testing to confirm that you are indeed the best possible match, says Gunn.

Then, after passing a physical exam,the transplant is scheduled. There are two ways to give. Peripheral blood stem cells or PBSC and marrow. Gunn says PBSC is used 80 percent of the time but the doctor chooses the best donation method for the patient. PBSC is similar to giving blood at a blood drive.

And they separate the stem cells from your blood while at the same time returning your blood back to you.

In marrow donation, the donor is anesthetized and a special needle is inserted into pelvic bone, and the marrow withdrawn.

Gunn says the program needs more minorities. He says its harder to match minority patients with donors because the pool is so small. He says often misinformation can keep people away from the program. One myth is its going to cost the donor too much money.

Read more here:
HealthWatch:How to become a marrow donor

Scientists have paved the way for human bones to be replaced with new ones grown outside the body. Photo: iStockphoto

SCIENTISTS have grown human bone from stem cells in a laboratory, paving the way for patients to have broken bones repaired - or even replaced with new ones grown outside the body from their own cells.

Researchers started with stem cells taken from fat tissue. It took about a month to grow them into sections of fully formed living bone up to several centimetres long.

The first trial in patients is on course for later this year, by an Israeli biotechnology company that has been working with academics on the technology.

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Professor Avinoam Kadouri, head of the scientific advisory board for Bonus BioGroup, said: ''We use three-dimensional structures to fabricate the bone in the right shape and geometry. We can grow these bones outside the body and then transplant them to the patient.

''By scanning the damaged bone area, the implant should fit perfectly and merge with the surrounding tissue. There are no rejection problems as the cells come from the patient.''

The technology, developed with researchers at the Technion Institute of Research in Israel, uses three-dimensional scans of damaged bone to build a gel-like scaffold that matches the shape.

Stem cells, known as mesenchymal stem cells, that have the capacity to develop into many other types of body cell, are taken from a patient by liposuction and are then grown into living bone inside a ''bioreactor'' - a machine that provides the conditions to encourage the cells to develop into bone.

Animals have already successfully received bone transplants, but in the latest study, the scientists were able to insert almost 2.5 centimetres of laboratory-grown human bone into a rat's leg bone, where it successfully merged with the remaining animal bone.

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Fixing broken bones a growth industry

"We use three dimensional structures to fabricate the bone in the right shape and geometry. We can grow these bones outside the body and then transplant it to the patient at the right time.

"By scanning the damaged bone area, the implant should fit perfectly and merge with the surrounding tissue. There are no problems with rejection as the cells come from the patient's own body."

The technology, which has been developed along with researchers at the Technion Institute of Research in Israel, uses three dimensional scans of the damaged bone to build a gel-like scaffold that matches the shape.

Stem cells, known as mesenchymal stem cells, which have the capacity to develop into many other types of cell in the body, are obtained from the patient's fat using liposuction.

These are then grown into living bone on the scaffold inside a "bioreactor" an automated machine that provides the right conditions to encourage the cells to develop into bone.

Already animals have successfully received bone transplants. The scientists were able to insert almost an inch of laboratory-grown human bone into the middle section of a rat's leg bone, where it successfully merged with the remaining animal bone.

The technique could ultimately allow doctors to replace bones that have been smashed in accidents, fill in defects where bone is missing such as cleft palate, or carry out reconstructive plastic surgery.

Professor Kadouri said work was also under way to grow the soft cartilage at the ends of bones, which is needed if entire bones are to be produced in a laboratory.

Bone grafts currently involve taking bits of bone from elsewhere in the patients body and transplanting them to the area which is damaged to encourage healing.

More than 250,000 bone grafts are performed in the UK each year, including repairs to damaged jaws and the replacement of bone lost in operations to remove tumours.

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Human bones grown from fat in laboratory

7 June 2012

Bone Marrow Transplant Milestone

Today is a big day for the Waikato Hospital Haematology Department and equally big for consultant haematologist Dr Humphrey Pullon who established the transplant service there 20 years ago.

The first autologous bone marrow transplant was carried out at Waikato Hospital on 25 June 1992 and was today celebrated with a patient afternoon tea, which about 120 transplant recipients attended.

By the end of the month we will have performed 317 transplants in 301 patients over the past 20 years, said Dr Pullon.

The first patient went down to Wellington to have her stem cells collected and they were then driven back up to be stored here She is still alive, but was unable to attend today.

We did the stem cell collection of the second patient, who is sadly no longer alive, and our third patient was cured of Lymphoma as a result of his transplant.

The third patient was Lloyd Given of Tauranga who attended todays afternoon tea.

I would like to extend my thanks to Waikato Hospital, Humphrey and the oncologist at the time, Grant Trotter, he said.

The autologous bone marrow transplant process is a long and involved one.The cancer patient is treated and goes into remission or gets to a point where the cancer is well controlled.

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Bone Marrow Transplant Milestone

A drug that stops the body from rejecting bone marrow transplants in cancer patients could be ready for human trials in three years time.

The latest development comes after more than a decade of research unlocking the function of a protein called perforin, which kills rogue cells in the body.

Australian researchers involved in unravelling perforin's molecular structure, a discovery published in the journal Nature in 2010, are now working towards developing a safe drug to block the protein.

Perforin plays a key role in the body's immune response by punching holes in, and killing, cells which have been hijacked by viruses or cancer to rid the body of disease.

However, the protein is problematic for bone marrow transplant patients because it can cause the body to reject the treatment.

For this reason, a project led by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne is developing a drug to inhibit the protein in bone marrow stem cell transplant patients to help their recovery.

The drug works in mouse models, but a $6.8 million grant from the UK's Wellcome Trust will allow the drug to be fine-tuned for human trials.

'In the mouse models we use, we know the inhibitors are effective,' project leader Professor Joe Trapani, executive director of cancer research at Peter Mac, told AAP.

'They actually help stem cells survive when they would otherwise be rejected.'

The Peter Mac team is working with New Zealand chemist Prof Bill Denny to refine the drug, along with Monash University and Queensland Institute of Medical Research scientists.

Read the original:
Bone marrow transplant drug trial closer