StemCell Therapy

Embryonic Stem Cell research has been an area of immense promise, but there have been few studies which have shown how these cells can benefit patients in real world applications. Embryonic Stem Cells have the ability to turn into any form of adult cell, which opens up the opportunity for incredible medical advances. On the other hand, the field of medical study is still quite new, and the fruits of that research are still largely in the future.

In just the past few days, however, new research was published that is the first of its kind to present the applied use of Embryonic Stem Cells as a medical treatment, with clear and profound results. Embryonic Stem Cells were successfully used to restore some vision in patients that suffer from chronic, degenerative eye conditions.

Eighteen patients were treated with Embryonic Stem Cells, and the treatment effectively enhanced vision in the majority of these patients. These findings are quite miraculous, but a larger scale study needs to be performed to discover the full applications of this treatment, because the original group of participants was so small. Furthermore, the participants need to be followed for a longer period of time to assess the full benefits of the treatment, as they have only been monitored for under two years.

The benefits of Embryonic Stem Cells surprised even the researchers that conducted the study. They provided the Stem Cell Treatments experimentally, but did not have any strong inclination that the treatment would benefit the patients, because their vision loss was so significant and severe.

The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Steven Schwartz, explains that he was simply amazed by the results, and is hopeful that the treatment will continue to benefit the patients, and eventually become a viable treatment for men and women across the country. Dr. Schwartz is a vision specialist from the University of California-Los Angeles. This study was released by The Lancet, one of the preeminent academic journals in Great Britain.

How Did Researchers Treat the Patients for Vision Loss with Embryonic Stem Cells?

Embryonic Stem Cells are hypothesized to work, because they emulate the structure and function of nearby cells when they are implanted into the patient. Embryonic Stem Cells develop in a particular way based upon the signals they receive from the human body. In the case of this particular study, Embryonic Stem Cells were implanted into the retina of patients that had degenerating optical neurons. In doing so, the Embryonic Stem Cells mimicked the normal function of the dying Retina, improving the vision of the patient.

Most researchers that work in vision care and have examined the details of the study find the results exciting, but they also feel that it was important to withhold full judgment until further clinical trials had been conducted.

Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest reiterates that this Stem Cell Vision Study is the first of its kind that explicitly shows how Embryonic Stem Cells can directly benefit the patient.

This study, at its core, is a proof of concept for the potential of Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy. All of the hypotheses in the world don't mean a thing if they aren't able to be converted into actionable medical science. If further studies go on to prove the effectiveness of Embryonic Stem Cells for this purpose, in the future, the range of options will likely expand into other forms of treatment intended to improve outcomes in patients with chronic, degenerative conditions, such as lung disease and heart disease. In addition, there are a variety of other ways in which Embryonic Stem Cells could be effective, including physical rehabilitation.

Why Are Embryonic Stem Cells Such an Important Area of Research?

Embryonic Stem Cell Research is an exciting area of study because of the potentially universal uses that these Stem Cells may offer patients of all kinds. Embryonic Stem Cells contain all of the DNA and information that can be used to make a living, breathing human being, but entirely undifferentiated. As the body of research continues to grow, it becomes more and more clear that these stem cells can be controlled in a way that allows them to develop into any other kind of tissue.

Of course, we are potentially decades away from unlocking the full potential of this treatment, and, until now, Embryonic Stem Cells have never been used to clearly and effectively treat a medical condition. There is hope that these stem cells will one day be able to mitigate the effects of a variety of conditions, such as paralysis, diabetes, and dementia.

This Embryonic Stem Cell Vision Study is the first FDA Study using Embryonic Stem Cells which has yielded unequivocally positive results. The study is truly significant, and even groundbreaking.

What Kind of Vision Impairment did This Study Treat?

The patients that were treated in this study were all afflicted with one of two forms of central vision impairment: Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy and Macular Degeneration, a condition in which the retina starts to degrade, making it harder for the patient to engage their full visual field. These two forms of visual impairment are the most common forms of blindness in the United States, in both children and adults.

These conditions directly impact the ability to focus on objects in one's visual field. Everything simply fades into a blur. The periphery is generally intact, but without central vision, it is impossible to focus or differentiate between objects in any meaningful fashion.

The researchers in this study combined their efforts with Advanced Cell Technology, Incorporated, a Stem Cell Research facility in Marlborough, Massachusetts. In this study, the researchers used undifferentiated Embryonic Stem Cells and converted them into Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells, which are vital for central vision, and are the cells which deteriorate as a result of the two most common visual impairments in the United States. Using Embryonic Stem Cells, they created over 50,000 of these cells, and implanted them directly into the retina of the participants.

The hypothesis was that the patient's body would use these fresh and healthy epithelial cells to repair the damage which was caused by the body's own cells that had fallen into disrepair. The researchers were not confident that this treatment would work, but considering that the patients had no other recourse to potentially restore their vision, this research did offer them the unique opportunity to potentially experience benefits that no human being had experienced before, with few to no potential drawbacks, even if the procedure was unsuccessful.

None of the researchers believed that these Stem Cells would improve the vision of their patients. The goal of the study was simply to test the safety of the procedure and treatment before moving on to more directed studies. The scientists that conducted this research worried that this treatment could lead to unwanted side-effects. For example, they could not rule out the possibility that the treatment would promote the development of tumors in the patients eyes, or that it could hasten the visual degradation rather than relieve it.

In order to test their theories without putting the vision of the patient at risk, the researchers selected only subjects that had severe vision issues which left them all but blind. This mitigated the potential risks of the treatment to the patient, but it also meant that it significantly reduced the odds, in theory, that the treatment could provide any tangible benefit to the patient. Dr. Schwartz explains that, because of the issues in selecting patients, he and his fellow researchers had little confidence that the treatment could actually lead to real and significant vision improvement.

It's important to look at this study realistically. Although this trial has been incredibly promising, it's still a long way from reaching the market, and there could always be snags along the way. It's important to recognize that Stem Cell Treatments, although they will all but certainly be available for a wide variety of conditions, are still years off from widespread use. It's important that patients understand that this Stem Cell Therapy is not something that's really available to patients at this time, though it will be in the future.

Side Effects of Stem Cell Vision Therapy

Some of the participants did experience issues resulting from the Stem Cell Therapy, mostly because of medications that they had to take to prevent the Immune System from responding negatively to the treatment. Luckily, none of these side-effects were overly problematic, and none of the patients had to suspend treatment. They found that, although the procedure did lead to some side-effects, the patients experienced no issues resulting directly from the Stem Cells.

Effectiveness of Stem Cell Therapy for Vision Loss

The authors of the study reported that, in the end, ten patients experienced a great improvement in their eyesight. Out of eighteen total patients, only one experienced a decline in vision quality, while the final seven patients either experienced no changes in eyesight or slight improvement.

Dr. Schwartz was amazed by the findings. He explains that, some of the patients that experienced these vision conditions had been suffering from deterioration for thirty years or more, without any real improvement, and that the Stem Cell Therapy directly led to improvements that they had never experienced before.

For example, one patient was a rancher that enjoyed riding horses, but, because of his vision problems, could no longer safely do so. After treatment, he could see well enough to go horseback riding safely. Before treatment, riding was far too dangerous, because he was visually unable to see things like fences or differentiate between objects at a distance in any meaningful way. Now, he can go back to his ranch and effectively corral his cattle, while also recognizing nearby dangers and being able to differentiate among objects in the distance with relative accuracy.

A second patient was a business-person that frequently traveled internationally to perform consultations. Vision problems prevented the patient from being able to travel unaccompanied through airports, but the treatment restored the patient's ability to travel without aid. A third patient was a graphic artist that had lost the ability to practice her craft. After treatment, she was able to see details in her furniture that were invisible to her before treatment.

A fourth patient from Santa Rosa, Isabella Beukes, had been unable to see clearly for longer than forty years. After only a few weeks of Stem Cell Treatment, her vision started to improve. In just that short period of time, she was able to see objects on her computer monitor, as well as recognize her clothes by color in the closet. After two years, she is able to go hiking alone in the forest close by her house. She explains that the Stem Cell Treatment impacted her life in a genuinely profound way. It changed her life and afforded her a level of independence that she hadn't felt in decades. She was honored and amazed that she had had the opportunity to participate in such a life-altering study.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research is Still Considered Ethically Questionable by Some

Embryonic Stem Cell Research is not without its detractors. The only way to get these cells is by taking apart an embryo, which, of course, has the potential to develop into a full-fledged human being. Those that feel that life begins at conception are opposed to such research, and feel that destroying embryos is the literal equivalent of ending a child's life. Although an embryo is just a clump of identical cells, many still afford them with this description.

Of course, even if ethical quandaries in the United States slow down research, Stem Cell Research in other countries will continue to grow and expand at a rapid rate, because the United States is unique in the first world with regard to these ethical issues.

When asked about these ethical issues, Dr. Schwartz points out that his goal as a vision specialist is to help people improve their eyesight, and to restore vision to the blind.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Could One Day Replace Embryonic Stem Cells

There is also a push to unlock the secrets of creating new stem cells from the cells of existing patients. Researchers are in the process of learning how to literally, “turn back the clock,” reverting cells to their embryonic state, or a similar state. As of today, researchers have effectively been able to revert cells to a point of early development, but have issues restoring cells to a state identical to that of Embryonic Stem Cells. These cells may one day replace stem cells, allowing patients to use their own cells for regenerative treatment.

Continuing Research

As his prior research has proven that Stem Cells can be effective at restoring for vision in patients with Macular Degeneration and other visual disorders, Dr. Schwartz has expanded the pool of patients which are eligible for treatment, now including patients that still retain some vision, that are suffering from the same degenerative conditions. He has also begun to implant a larger volume of Stem Cells to find out whether more Stem Cells improve the rate of recovery. The success of his UCLA study has prompted expanded Clinical Trials in London, Philadelphia, Miami, and Boston.

This entry was posted on October 16, 2014 at 5:42 pm and is filed under Regenerative Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |