Stem Cell Treatment
In recent years, there has been much talk about stem cell therapy, but it has only gained momentum in a relatively short period of time. But what exactly is this and what does it mean for the future of cancer treatment? [Sources: 11, 18]
For example, it was recently discovered that a drug called PGE2 can multiply the number of blood stem cells. Stem cell therapy is also controversial after scientists discovered a technique that isolates embryonic stem cells and generates them through somatic cell nuclear transfer, using this technique to produce induced pluripotent stem cells. The use of gene editing on adult stem cells has been tested to treat diseases such as sickle cell anemia but has yet to be used for other diseases. Stem cells transplanted to patients with cancer or used for other diseases are still experimental and must be considered as such. [Sources: 1, 14, 17, 18]
Although stem cell therapy in CF seems promising, much research is still necessary before it will be possible. One of the greatest challenges in the development of stem cells – based therapies – is to unite stem cells into a single cell type. Adult stem cells may not be manipulated to produce one of these cell types, which limits the ability to treat the disease. Researchers working with ES cells and adult stem cells are seeking to accelerate the understanding that will lead to stem cell therapies. [Sources: 8, 12, 14, 16]
There are several ways in which stem cell transplants can work, similar to transplants used to treat cancer and other types of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This procedure involves taking stem cells from a patient’s blood, harvesting them, storing them until needed, and then injecting them into the patient to preserve the destroyed cancer cells. The process is so successful that the cells become the cells necessary for the healing of the body. Stem cells injected into patients continue to work for up to a year, forming new cells in target areas. [Sources: 3, 4, 5, 9]
Ultimately, we are looking to use stem cells to replace and hopefully repair and regenerate nerves and repair muscles and other body parts like the brain. [Sources: 19]
You may have heard about the controversy surrounding the treatment of embryonic stem cells, but what about the use of adult stem cells in one’s own body? Stem cells mean they can divide into more of themselves and become any type of cell in the body. These are pluripotent ploo – RIP – er – tunt, and they are used in a variety of different ways, from embryonic to adult cells. [Sources: 8, 15]
Adult stem cells have the ability to differentiate into certain cell types, and they can differentiate into any cell in the body. Known as tissues – specific somatic stem cells – they exist at the time an embryo develops, but they do not exist in all cells in our body. Finally, induced pluripotent stem cells are implanted in adult cells that have been reprogrammed to relapse into a stem cell that resembles an embryonic stem cell. [Sources: 0, 7, 13]
Stem cell therapy involves the patient’s own stem cells being taken from his bone marrow, but this procedure is usually performed with an allogeneic stem cell – a stem cell that is extracted or processed from amniotic fluid. The doctor who performs the stem cell therapy procedure then injects the harvested stem cells into the target area. These transplanted stem cells help to save bone marrow by replacing the stem cells in the body destroyed by the treatment. This procedure can also be performed by a non-invasive method, such as the transplantation of an embryonic cell into a human embryo, whereby the stem cells are extracted and processed from amniotic fluids using the same method as allogenic and pluripotent cells. [Sources: 3, 7, 9]
These stem cells can grow into any number of different cell types, such as bone marrow, blood, brain, or other organs. [Sources: 8]
Currently, blood stem cells are the only type of adult stem cell that is used regularly in treatment and has been used for clinical therapy for over 40 years. In the late 1960s, they were used as the basis for a procedure commonly known today as bone marrow transplantation. There are currently no guidelines for the use of embryonic and adult stem cells in veterinary medicine. The American Veterinary Medical Association, however, supports research into stem cell therapy, but cautions against its use in clinical practice. The guidelines include a recommendation on embryo and stem cell donation and how they can be used during research. [Sources: 2, 6, 8, 17]
By 2020, the FDA has approved the use of stem cells only for a few types of diseases, including cancer and blood diseases, and does not plan to approve them for more than that. [Sources: 11]
Stem cell therapy can help relieve pain, but it is not the magic solution for all diseases and conditions. The success of stem cell therapies depends on their effectiveness in treating a particular disease or disease. Developing stem cells that have been proven to be safe and effective is not as easy as removing them from one part of the body to another. [Sources: 10, 11, 18]
Sources:
[0]: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323343
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem-cell_therapy
[2]: https://www.unmc.edu/stemcells/educational-resources/importance.html
[3]: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/stem-cell-transplant/why-stem-cell-transplants-are-used.html
[4]: https://www.dvcstem.com/post/stem-cell-therapy
[5]: https://www.cancercenter.com/cancer-types/leukemia/treatments/stem-cell-transplantation
[6]: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/stem-cell-therapy
[7]: https://www.chicagostemcells.com/stem-cell-therapy.html
[8]: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117
[9]: https://www.bostonstemcell.com/how-long-do-stem-cell-injections-last/
[10]: https://www.texashipandknee.com/biologics-texas-institute-for-hip-knee-surgery.html
[11]: https://www.floridamedicalclinic.com/blog/stem-cell-therapy-for-knee-pain/
[12]: https://www.cirm.ca.gov/patients/power-stem-cells
[13]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2598269
[14]: https://www.cff.org/Research/Research-Into-the-Disease/Restore-CFTR-Function/Stem-Cells-for-Cystic-Fibrosis-Therapy/
[15]: https://mybackmylife.com/services-we-provide/stem-cell-injections/
[16]: https://www.massgeneral.org/research/regenerative-medicine/what-are-stem-cells
[17]: http://stemcell.childrenshospital.org/about-stem-cells/adult-somatic-stem-cells-101/how-do-adult-stem-cells-get-turned-into-treatments/
[18]: http://www.kumc.edu/msctc/adult-stem-cell-therapy-101.html
[19]: https://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/emerging/stem-cell-therapy-spine-care