Regenerative medicine: Could the ways animals regenerate hair and feathers help restore human fingers and toes?
By daniellenierenberg
ScienceDaily (May 10, 2012) This summer's action film, "The Amazing Spider-Man," is another match-up between the superhero and his nemesis the Lizard. Moviegoers and comic book fans alike will recall that the villain, AKA Dr. Curt Connors, was a surgeon who, after losing an arm, experimented with cell generation and reptilian DNA and was eventually able to grow back his missing limb.
The latest issue of the journal Physiology contains a review article that looks at possible routes that unlock cellular regeneration in general, and the principles by which hair and feathers regenerate themselves in particular.
The authors apply what is currently known about regenerative biology to the emerging field of regenerative medicine, which is being transformed from fantasy to reality.
Review Article
While the concept of regenerative medicine is relatively new, animals are well known to remake their hair and feathers regularly by normal regenerative physiological processes. In their review, the authors focus on (1) how extrafollicular environments can regulate hair and feather stem cell activities and (2) how different configurations of stem cells can shape organ forms in different body regions to fulfill changing physiological needs.
The review outlines previous research on the role of normal regeneration of hair and feathers throughout the lifespan of various birds and mammals. The researchers include what is currently known about the mechanism behind this re-growth, as well as what gaps still exist in the knowledge base and remain ripe for future research.
The review examines dozens of papers on normal "physiological regeneration" -- the re-growth that happens over the course of an animal's life and not in response to an injury. This regeneration takes place to accommodate different stages in an animal's life (e.g., replacing downy chick feathers with an adult chicken's, or replacing the fine facial hair of a young boy with the budding beard of an adolescent), or in response to various environmental conditions (e.g., cats shedding a thick winter coat in the summer heat but re-growing it when the seasons change again, or snowshoe hares switching from brown in the summer to white in the winter for camouflage).
These changes seem to respond both to internal cues such as physiology of the hair follicle itself, or external cues such as the environment, but the mechanisms behind these normal alterations are largely unknown. Stem cells inside the follicle prompt hair and feather regeneration, but researchers are still unsure how to guide those cells to form the shape, size, and orientation of these "skin appendages" so that controlled re-growth is possible. Additionally, scientists are still unsure how to re-grow hair on skin in people after severe injuries that lead to scar tissue.
Importance of the Findings
The reviewed studies suggest that while researchers are making headway in understanding how and why hair and feathers regenerate after normal loss or in response to different life stages, much still remains unknown. This missing knowledge could hold valuable clues to learning how to regenerate much more complicated and valuable structures after loss to injury, such as fingers and toes.
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May 10th, 2012
Study Identifies Cell Subtypes For Potential Personalized Cellular Therapies
By Sykes24Tracey
Connie K. Ho for RedOrbit.com
A new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has discovered two adult stem cell-like subpopulations in adult human skin.
The findings allow for further research to be done in the area of personalized medicine and patient-specific cellular therapies.
The study, using technology from Fibrocell Science, allowed the researchers to identify and confirm two types of cells in human skin cell cultures; the possible source of stem cell-like subpopulations from skin biopsies would be faster to perform, painless, and less invasive than current extractions from adipose tissues and bone marrow.
The research, featured in the inaugural issue of BioResearch Open Access, discusses two subtypes of cells. BioResearch Open Access is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed journal. It features scientific topics like biochemistry, bioengineering, gene therapy, genetics, microbiology, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, stem cells, systems biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, and virology.
Being able to identify two sub-populations of rare, viable and functional cells that behave like stem cells from within the skin is an important finding because both cell types have the potential to be investigated for diverse clinical applications, commented Dr. James A. Bryne, lead author of the report.
Brynes research, first at Stanford University then at UCLA, focused on reprogramming beginnings of cells from animals and then humans. A graduate of Cambridge University, Bryne studied the intra- and inter-species of epigenetic reprogramming. His work also highlighted how primate embryonic stem cells could be derived from somatic cell nuclear transfers.
The study published in BioResearch Open Access confirmed previous research that identified a rare population of cells in adult human skin that had a marker called stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 (SSEA3). Bryne and his colleagues found that there was an increase in the amount of SSEA3 expressing cells after injury to the human skin. It showed that the SSEA3 biomarker could be used to help identify and isolate cells with tissue-regenerative traits.
Finding these rare adult stem cell-like subpopulations in human skin is an exciting discovery and provides the first step towards purifying and expanding these cells to clinically relevant numbers for application to a variety of potential personalized cellular therapies for osteoarthritis, bone loss, injury and/or damage to human skin as well as many other diseases, remarked Bryne, an Assistant Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.
Bryne and his team used Fibrocell technology to collect cells from skin samples, cultured the cells in the lab, and purified them by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The FACS tagged suspended cells with fluorescent markers for undifferentiated stem cells. The researchers were able to separate the rare cell subpopulations from other kinds of cells.
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May 10th, 2012
New England Journal of Medicine Reports on Three Phase III REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) Trials in Patients with Newly …
By LizaAVILA
BOUDRY, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Celgene International Srl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG - News), today announced that results from three phase III studies evaluating the use of continuous REVLIMID (lenalidomide) treatment in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients or maintenance treatment with lenalidomide following autologous stem cell transplant were published online in the May 10, 2012 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. All three publications highlight the expanding body of clinical evidence supporting lenalidomide treatment in these areas.
Continuous Lenalidomide Therapy (non-transplant eligible population):
The first article highlights a Celgene-sponsored study of continuous lenalidomide treatment in elderly patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Continuous Lenalidomide Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (MM-015)
This double-blind, phase III, multicenter, randomized study conducted by Celgene compared melphalanprednisonelenalidomide induction followed by lenalidomide maintenance (MPR-R), with melphalanprednisonelenalidomide (MPR), or melphalanprednisone (MP) followed by placebo in 459 patients aged 65 years with newly-diagnosed myeloma who were not eligible for autologous stem-cell transplant.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1112704
Post-transplant maintenance
The two additional articles published in the edition highlighted cooperative group studies that evaluated the use of lenalidomide maintenance following autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT).
In each of the studies, one funded by the National Cancer Institute and conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) and one by the Intergroupe Francophone du Myelome (IFM), maintenance treatment with lenalidomide following ASCT resulted in delayed time to disease progression or death compared to placebo.
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May 10th, 2012
Pluristem stem cell therapy saves a patient, shares jump
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Wed May 9, 2012 3:35pm BST
(Reuters) - Pluristem Therapeutics Inc said a 7-year old girl suffering from a bone marrow disease experienced a reversal of her condition after receiving its experimental stem cell therapy, sending the Israeli company's shares up 32 percent.
The girl, suffering from aplastic bone marrow in which the patient has no blood-forming stem cells, had a significant rise in her red cells, white cells and platelets following an injection of Pluristem's therapy -- PLacental eXpanded cells.
"The results of this unique case indicate that PLX cells may be effective in treating other diseases that affect the bone marrow," Reuven Or, the child's physician at Hadassah Medical Center, was quoted in a statement by Pluristem.
Last September, the company said animal studies showed that the therapy had the potential to treat blood tissue complications related with acute radiation syndrome, commonly called radiation sickness.
Last month, the U.S. health regulators gave a go ahead to the company to start a mid-stage trial of the therapy for treating Intermittent Claudication -- a subset of peripheral artery disease.
Pluristem shares, which have gained 5 percent since receiving the FDA nod for the mid-stage trial, were up 15 percent at $2.70 in morning trade on the Nasdaq. They touched a high of $3.10 earlier.
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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May 10th, 2012
Iranian researcher helps treating muscular dystrophy using stem cells
By daniellenierenberg
Source: ISNA, Tehran
Iranian researcher and lecturer Radbod Darabi jointly with his collogues from the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute have effectively treated muscular dystrophy in mice using human stem cells derived from a new process which for the first time makes the production of human muscle cells from stem cells efficient and effective.
Radbod Darabi, MD, PhD with Rita Perlingeiro, PhD. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Minnesota Academic Health Center)
The research outlines the strategy for the development of a rapidly dividing population of muscle-forming cells derived from induced pluripotent (iPS) cells.
IPS cells have all of the potential of embryonic stem (ES) cells, but are derived by reprogramming skin cells. They can be patient-specific, which renders them unlikely to be rejected, and do not involve the destruction of embryos.
This is the first time that human stem cells have been shown to be effective in the treatment of muscular dystrophy.
According to the researchers, there has been a significant lag in translating studies using mouse stem cells into therapeutically relevant studies involving human stem cells.
This lag has dramatically limited the development of cell therapies or clinical trials for human patients.
The latest research from the University of Minnesota provides the proof-of-principle for treating muscular dystrophy with human iPS cells, setting the stage for future human clinical trials.
As the researchers noted one of the biggest barriers to the development of cell-based therapies for neuromuscular disorders like muscular dystrophy has been obtaining sufficient muscle progenitor cells to produce a therapeutically effective response.
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May 7th, 2012
Single cell triggers fibroid uterine tumor
By Sykes24Tracey
CHICAGO, May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've identified the molecular trigger of fibroid uterine tumors -- a single stem cell develops a mutation and grows uncontrollably.
Dr. Serdar Bulun, the chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said the single cell activates other cells to join its frenzied expansion.
"It loses its way and goes wild," Bulun said in a statement. "No one knew how these came about before. The stem cells make up only 1.5 percent of the cells in the tumor, yet they are the essential drivers of its growth."
Dr. Masanori Ono, a post-doctoral student in Bulun's laboratory who was the study's lead author, said the stem cell that initiated the tumor carries a mutation called MED12.
Recently, mutations in the MED12 gene have been reported in the majority of uterine fibroid tissues. Once the mutation kicks off the abnormal expansion, the tumors grow in response to steroid hormones, particularly progesterone, Bulun said.
"Understanding how this mutation directs the tumor growth gives us a new direction to develop therapies," Bulun said in a statement.
The paper is published in the journal PLoS ONE.
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May 7th, 2012
Complex cancer industry trial literature is too confusing for patients to understand
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Have you ever read something so complex and confusing that it frustrated you to
the point of distraction? Well, a new study has found that cancer trial
literature causes that kind of frustration - and may be misleading to patients
as well.
According to Prof. Mary Dixon-Woods, professor of Medical Sociology at the
University of Leicester Department of Health Sciences in Great Britain, a
number of cancer patients found information leaflets describing cancer trials
too long, too incomprehensible and too intimidating.
"These information sheets are poorly aligned with patients' information
needs and how they really make decisions about whether to join a cancer
trial," said Dixon-Woods, lead author of the research http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/uol-cti032612.php,
which was published in the international journal Sociology of Health and
Illness.
"Some patients did find them very useful, but many others paid them little
attention. They preferred to rely on discussions they had with their doctor to
make up their minds," she said. Read more…
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May 6th, 2012
Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. Acquires Guangzhou Bioseal … – MarketWatch (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 The Star-Ledger - NJ.com | Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. Acquires Guangzhou Bioseal ... MarketWatch (press release) GUANGZHOU, China, May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. today announced it has acquired Guangzhou Bioseal Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Bioseal) a privately held biopharmaceutical company specializing in the design ... Johnson & Johnson buys Chinese sealant makerBioscience Technology |
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http://news.google.com/news?q=biotechnology&output=rss
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May 6th, 2012
UAB Professor Louise Chow elected to National Academy of Science – UAB News
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 UAB News | UAB Professor Louise Chow elected to National Academy of Science UAB News By Beena Thannickal Louise Chow, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and senior scientist at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, was elected a member of the National ... UAB researcher elected to prestigious National Academy of Sciencesal.com (blog) Six Stanford faculty elected to National Academy of SciencesStanford University News |
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http://news.google.com/news?q=molecular-genetics&output=rss
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May 6th, 2012
Another > $100M month for companies in the cell therapy space
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Allocure kicked off the month with a decent $25M Series B round from new syndicate member Lundbeckfond Ventures, as well as previous investors SV Life Sciences and Novo A/S. Allocure is headed into phase 2 for acute kidney injury with an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapeutic they currently call AC607.
Little-known Canadian-based, Sernova then announced a $3.6M PIPE to fund continued development of its proprietary Cell Pouch System(TM), and, in particular, to fund the upcoming first-in-man clinical trial for patients with diabetes receiving an islet transplant. The application to proceed with this trial is currently under review by Health Canada.
Next up was NeoStem closing a $6.8M public offering for "expanding" their contract manufacturing business, Progenitor Cell Therapy, and "enrolling the PreSERVE AMR-001 Phase 2 clinical trial for preserving heart function after a heart attack".
The biggest deal of the month was a $65M convertible debt financing of China Cord Blood by none other than global powerhouse Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) through it KKR China Growth Fund L.P., a China-focused investment fund managed by KKR. We believe this is deal is certainly an investment in the future of China's healthcare market potential but that it is bigger than that. We believe a significant driver for this deal may likely have been the opportunity to consolidate this sector globally - to use a significant operation and 'war chest' to fund mergers and acquisitions on both the public and private cord blood banking sector worldwide.
The only classic first-round venture raise this month was a milestone-based $5M Series A by Bay City Capital into Phil Coelho's new company, SynGen, to fund his latest iteration of stem cell processing devices.
Forbion Capital then announced that it was leading a series D round, joined by fellow existing investors TVM Capital, Lumira Capital, Intersouth Partners, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Morningside Group, and Aurora Funds, of $25M into Argos Therapeutics in order to kick them into their phase 3. The hope here is that with some early phase 3 data they may be able to attract the elusive partner they couldn't land with a mere bucket of phase 2 data.
Innovacell landed the only European deal by announcing an 8.3M Euro (~$11M) investment by Buschier, Fides, HYBAG, and Uni Venture. This will be used for the continued clinical development of its cell-therapy (ICES13) for the treatment of stress-urinary incontinence currently in a ph 3 study in several European countries.
ReNeuron announced a private placement also open to existing shareholders that brought in just under $10M (£6.1M) to support their phase 1 trial in stroke and other pre-clinical, clinical, and regulatory milestones.
Finally, the Bio-Matrix Scientific Group, in an apparent ongoing quest to continuously reinvent itself, announced at month's end that they had formed a new subsidiary named Regen BioPharma and that they had raised $20M in a financing commitment from Southridge Partners II to purchase its common stock as required over the term of the agreement at a price set by an agreed formula. This money is said to be dedicated to the acquisition of discovery-stage intellectual property and driving it through to phase 2 trials in an exercise of maximum value creation over a period they claim to be as short as 18-24 months.
..
So in the end, the month saw companies in the space raise just over $170M and even if you back out the stem cell banking deal its still over $100M for cell therapy companies.
Over the 2 months, then, we've seen just over $311M raised through a variety of means by companies at every stage of maturity and for intended purposes ranging from acquisition, consolidation, early stage clinical development, and phase 3 testing.
--Lee
p.s. If you are aware of other deals in the sector this month, let us know and we'll update this accordingly.
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May 6th, 2012
Gene Hunt Is On for Mental Disabilities in Children
By Dr. Matthew Watson
To Read More: Gene Hunt Is On for Mental Disabilities in Children
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May 6th, 2012
April 2012 Advances: Additional Resources
By Dr. Matthew Watson
The Advances news section in April's issue of Scientific American included stories on digital textbooks, the promise of using gene therapy to fight blindness and how fragile orchids survive. To learn more about any of the stories, follow these links.
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May 6th, 2012
Processed EHR text can be used to develop CDS tools Read more: Processed EHR text can be used to develop Clinical decision support tools with automated text processing
By Dr. Matthew Watson
See on Scoop.it – inPharmatics
Free text in electronic health records, with the help of natural language processing (NLP) technology, can be used to create accurate clinical decision support (CDS) tools, according to a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
See on jamia.bmj.com
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May 6th, 2012
Why mHealth hasn’t created an Instagram (yet)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
See on Scoop.it – inPharmatics
Read about why a Qualcomm Life executive says mobile health doesn’t yet have an Instagram, and why it eventually will.
See on http://www.medcitynews.com
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May 6th, 2012
Kudos to CIRM: Stem Cell Agency Sticks with Full Financial Disclosure
By Dr. Matthew Watson
billion California stem cell agency yesterday voted unanimously to
retain full public disclosure of the financial interests of its
directors and top executives.
bypassed a proposal that would have substantially weakened disclosure at a time when the agency is moving closer to industry in an effort
to develop cures.
and the agency's longstanding commitment to transparency," said
Kevin McCormack, the agency's spokesman, "they believed that
CIRM should continue to set an example by requiring the broadest
disclosure of members of the board and high level staff."
executives must disclose all their investments and income – in a
general way – along with California real property that they hold.
Under the rejected changes, disclosures would have instead been
required only "if the business entity or source of income is of
the type to receive grants or other monies from or through
the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine."
relieved CIRM officials of reporting investment in or income from
venture capital or other firms that may be engaged in financing
biotech or stem cell enterprises, since the firms do not receive cash
from CIRM or engage in biomedical research.
The subcommittee's action will go before the full CIRM board later this month, where it is expected to be ratified.
took the right action and is to be commended for going beyond the
letter of the law. The integrity and credibility of CIRM are
paramount. As the California Stem Cell Report wrote last week, narrowing disclosure would only have engendered suspicion and
unnecessarily raised questions about the conduct of the agency as it
embarks on an aggressive push for stem cell cures.
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
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May 6th, 2012
Researcher Alert: First Look at Proposed Rules for California’s Stem Cell Bank
By Dr. Matthew Watson
The California
stem cell agency today unveiled initial details of how it plans to
run its $30 million bank of reprogrammed adult stem cells.
regulations are the first step this year in the $3 billion agency's
project to make IPS cells available worldwide at low cost. It is part
of an effort to stimulate the science and develop commercial cures by
removing research roadblocks.
CIRM's communications manager wrote earlier this year on the agency's research blog,
"One way for CIRM to accelerate research is by creating more of a library system
for stem cells – except we don’t want the cells back."
The agency expects
to issue its first RFA next month in the stem cell banking initiative, which consists of three grant rounds to be approved by
the CIRM board no later than Feburary of next year.
for the first round, CIRM plans to revise its IP regulations to
ensure that they don't hamper the distribution of stem cells in its bank and their wide use. The revisions will come before the CIRM directors'
IP/Industry Subcommittee next Tuesday. The six-member panel is
co-chaired by co-chaired by Stephen Juelsgaard, former executive vice
president of Genentech, and Duane Roth, CEO of Connect in San Diego,
a nonprofit that supports tech and life sciences entrepreneuers.
Sites where the public can participate in the meeting will be
available in San Francisco, La Jolla, Los Angeles and two in Irvine.
of the grantee, as the current IP rules state.
directors, Elona Baum, general counsel for the agency, said,
"This permits
CIRM to have complete control of this valuable resource and is
consistent with the practice of NIH’s Center for Regenerative
Medicine which is also creating a repository for iPSC lines and
derived materials."
"The (current) IP
regulations were drafted to address conventional drug discovery
activities and did not contemplate creation of a comprehensive
repository of cell lines intended for broad distribution. As a
result, the IP regulations contain a number of provisions which are
either not applicable or worse could impede the success of the hiPSC
bank. For instance, IP regulations permit the exclusive licensing of
CIRM funded inventions and technology. This would be
counterproductive to the goals of the hiPSC repository which are
predicated on wide spread access."
following summary of the $30 million banking initiative:
"These lines
will serve as valuable tools in drug discovery and will be available
to researchers worldwide. The Tissue Collection RFA No. 12-02 will
fund clinicians and other scientists to identify, recruit and consent
sufficient numbers of affected individuals within a disease
population so as to effectively represent the disease’s
manifestations. Tissues will be collected and appropriate clinical,
medical or diagnostic information, will be obtained to enable
informed discovery of disease-related phenotypes and drug development
activities using hiPSC-based models. These tissue samples will be
provided (without charge) to the recipient of the CIRM hiPSC
Derivation Award (RFA No. 12-03) for the production of the hiPSC
lines. Once derived, characterized and released, the lines will be
deposited in the CIRM hiPSC bank funded under RFA No. 12-04."
for the public meeting locations can be found on the agenda.
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
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May 6th, 2012
ACT and CIRM Together on Eye Research Webinar
By Dr. Matthew Watson
which has been repeatedly rejected for funding by the $3 billion
California stem cell agency, will participate this week in the agency's Internet "webinar" on research involving the human eye.
clinical trial in the nation, was held up earlier this month (see
here and here) at an Institute of Medicine hearing as a prime example
of the California's agency's failure to fund the stem cell industry
in any significant way.
 |
| Gary Rabin, CEO of ACT |
ACT; Matthew Vincent, director of business development, and Edmund
Mickunas, vice president of regulatory affairs. The webinar will deal with regulatory issues
with the FDA and clinical trials involving the eye.
medical officer with the FDA, and Mark Humayun, professor of
opthamology at USC, who is the PI on a $16 million macular
degeneration grant from CIRM.
participation in the CIRM event? If the relationship between ACT and
CIRM has been touchy, this sort of cooperation is probably a good
sign for both. For one, CIRM could have hardly staged the webinar
without ACT, given the subject matter. But if the agency did not
want to engage ACT, it could have simply done nothing about setting
up a webinar in which the firm would participate.
receive a handsome grant or loan from CIRM? CIRM has established
procedures (RFAs, peer review, etc.) for approval of funding, and ACT
would have to go through that process unless CIRM does something very
unusual.
is likely to be technical. Persons interested in taking part must
register in advance.
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Oxford Scientists Seek to Test Genetic Solution to Dengue-Carrying Mosquitoes … – OregonLive.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Bloomberg | Oxford Scientists Seek to Test Genetic Solution to Dengue-Carrying Mosquitoes ... OregonLive.com LONDON — British biotechnology start-up Oxitec wants to start US tests of a new weapon in the war on dengue fever: genetically modifying mosquitoes that carry the disease so that their progeny self-destruct. Dengue, endemic in more than 100 countries, ... Scientists modifying mosquitoes to prevent dengueVaccine News Daily (blog) |
Source:
http://news.google.com/news?q=biotechnology&output=rss
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May 6th, 2012
Kashi is latest food to go anti-biotechnology – Oregon Natural Resources Report
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 Oregon Natural Resources Report | Kashi is latest food to go anti-biotechnology Oregon Natural Resources Report Tellingly, the press release issued by Kashi comes quickly on the heels of an agenda-driven campaign to “out” the health food maker's use of foods produced with biotechnology. The declaration of the cowardly cereal creator's about-face on biotechnology ... |
Source:
http://news.google.com/news?q=biotechnology&output=rss
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May 6th, 2012
REGION: Surprise cord-blood find is 'godsend' for ailing boy
By Sykes24Tracey
After half a year of blood transfusions to treat life-threatening anemia, 9-year-old Ricky Martinez was running out of time.
The Murrieta boy needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life. Although his parents had held numerous drives seeking a match for their son, the perfect donor eluded them.
Then another option appeared ---- doctors found Ricky's own blood from his umbilical cord, banked at birth, and stored in a medical facility.
"I had donated it at birth, when I delivered," said Ricky's mother, Cynthia Martinez. "I had no idea that I'd be using it for him nine years later."
The cord blood discovery represents a "godsend" for the family, Martinez said, because Ricky's body began rejecting the transfusions that keep him alive.
Cord blood contains stem cells ---- undifferentiated cells that can spur production of healthy tissue to help treat various diseases. Doctors believe it could jump-start Ricky's bone marrow, allowing his body to resume normal blood production.
But it's not a guarantee.
Ricky's condition, aplastic anemia, is an extremely rare disease, and cord blood transplantation is an experimental procedure for the condition, said David Buchbinder, a hematologist and transplant physician who is treating Ricky at Children's Hospital Orange County, in the city of Orange.
Although the procedure offers few risks of complications, it also pushes the boundaries of medical practice, placing Ricky in a realm of mixed medical opinions and uncertain results, Buchbinder said.
His parents say they're willing to go there to save their son's life.
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REGION: Surprise cord-blood find is 'godsend' for ailing boy
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May 6th, 2012