A stem cell trial halted, but the pursuit continues
When Stanford neurosurgeon Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, injected human stem cells this fall into the damaged spinal cord tissue of specially-selected patients, it was considered a major step forward in moving research discoveries toward clinical application. In November, however, the Menlo Park-based Geron Corp. announced it was ending the trial and its research into stem cells to concentrate on cancer drugs. Steinberg was disappointed, as many were. But, as he explained in a new Q&A on the Stanford Hospital & Clinics website:
We should remember that five of the anticipated eight total patients were successfully transplanted with no adverse effects noted to date. Since this was designed as a safety study, the outcomes are very encouraging. These patients will be followed for 15 years to assess continued safety as well as any signs of neurologic improvement. I don’t believe the early termination of enrollment in this study will significantly set back the stem cell therapy field.
And when asked about his personal motivation to pursue and study embryonic stem cell treatment, he told me:
I was inspired by what I see every day: Patients devastated by neurological disorders and psychiatric disease with no hope or little hope for recovery of function. And it’s been like that for hundreds of years for many neurological diseases or injuries, including stroke, degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s. These patients are disabled and we have no treatment once the injury has occurred to restore or regenerate function. Stem cell therapy offers great hope to change that status for a large number of patients.
Previously: First California patient treated in Geron’s human embryonic stem cell trial and Stanford joins first human embryonic stem cell trial
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Dr. Steinberg must have been linked closely to the folks at Geron. He would know precisely why Geron halted the OPC1 trial and how sincere Geron is to restart the trial once appropriate partnership is lined up. Any comment w.r.t. that?
February 25th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
“These patients will be followed for 15 years to assess continued safety as well as any signs of neurologic improvement. I donÂ’t believe the early termination of enrollment in this study will significantly set back the stem cell therapy field.”
…send this to Gary …seems you like to censure what’s posted on the blog?
Braun: For Freehold woman, paralyzed life became too much to bear
Paralyzed from the neck down, Christina taught herself how to paint holding a brush in her mouth and her paintings were displayed in galleries throughout the state. She became an advocate for stem cell research and the needs of the paralyzed. She said she was hopeful a cure could be found.
“I was in denial for at least the first year, thinking that my will would be strong enough to cure me,” she wrote on her blog. “My ignorance has caused me a lot of suffering. ThatÂ’s why I think itÂ’s important to share my story.”
Bradshaw said Symanski told her she thought she could wait five to 10 years for a cure, but no more than that. About two years ago, her mother said, she began researching how she could legally end her own life.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bob_braun/2012/02/braun_for_freehold_woman_paral.html