OSAKA An Osaka University team said it has carried out the worlds first transplant of cardiac muscle cells created from iPS cells in a physician-initiated clinical trial.

In the clinical project to verify the safety and efficacy of the therapy using induced pluripotent stem cells, Yoshiki Sawa, a professor in the universitys cardiovascular surgery unit, and colleagues aim to transplant heart muscle cell sheets into 10 patients suffering from serious heart malfunction caused by ischemic cardiomyopathy.

The cells on the degradable sheets attached to the surface of the patients hearts are expected to grow to secrete a protein that can regenerate blood vessels and improve cardiac function. The iPS cells have already been derived from healthy donors blood cells and stored.

The researchers said Monday they decided to conduct a clinical trial instead of a clinical study in hopes of obtaining approval from the health ministry for clinical applications as soon as possible.

The trial involves stringently evaluating risks, particularly cancer possibilities, and the efficacy of transplanting some 100 million cells per patient that may include tumor cells.

This is the second iPS cell-based clinical trial in Japan. The first was conducted on eye disease patients by the Riken research institute.

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Osaka University transplants iPS cell-based heart cells in world's first clinical trial - The Japan Times