Stem Cell Treatment Success for MS
A stem cell trial for Multiple Sclerosis carried out by Kimiskidis, et al (2011), recruited thirty-five patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. These patients’ MS had not responded to conventional treatment and was rapidly progressing, giving them limited options for future treatment. The patients underwent chemotherapy to destroy their own immune system cells and then received an infusion of bone marrow-derived stem cells to rebuild their own immune system. Of the thirty-five patients treated, at least sixteen experienced a reduction in their symptoms on the standard disability scale used prior to the treatment. Unfortunately however, two patients died from transplant complications, highlighting the need for further care in such research and the exclusivity of treatment for those with few, if any, other options.
Anecdotal Evidence of Stem Cells Helping MS Patients
There have been other cases where stem cells were used to treat patients with MS and many anecdotal success stories provided by stem cell clinics themselves. A patient in Australia made headlines in 2010 as she claimed to have been completely cured of her disease by stem cell treatment. The patient, a 37-yr old woman underwent chemotherapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant during treatment by one of only two doctors in Australian who carry out the procedure. She was wheelchair-bound prior to the stem cell therapy and reported being able to walk almost immediately after the treatment with the disease appearing to have been reversed. The worry with such reports is that more patients will venture to far away clinics to undergo the treatments which have little, if any, evidence of safety or efficacy. Immediate positive reactions to treatment are extremely unlikely to be due to the stem cells themselves as the repair of damaged neurons will take time and cannot be instantaneous.
The Nature of MS Stem Cell Trials
The method of stem cell treatment will also vary according to the intended outcome as intravenous, intrathecal, and intraparenchymal injections of stem cells aim to achieve different results. The first involves the stem cells being introduced into the blood system where an immunomodulatory effect could be expected to occur in MS patients. Intrathecal injection is where the stem cells are infused into the spinal cord of the patient and these also aim at immunomodulation but may also, indirectly, aid remyelination. Intraparenchymal injections are where the stem cells are infused into the brain tissue itself and are aimed specifically at repairing damage to the neural tissue with no immunomodulatory effect. Intraparenchymal stem cell treatments may at some point in the future be administered alongside intravenous injections of mesenchymal stem cells for a two-pronged treatment modality for MS, but such therapy is a long way off having not yet been trialled. It is also possible, although not yet confirmed due to the lack of long-term clinical trial evidence, that a stem cell treatment may need repeating or that repeated therapy may benefit a patient with MS.
Fetal Stem Cells for Multiple Sclerosis Treament
Trials looking at using direct neural stem cell infusion into the brain tissue are using fetal stem cells rather than autologous stem cells which come with a number of other safety concerns that require careful attention by researchers. Embryonic stem cells are not currently being studied through registered clinical trials for multiple sclerosis although they may offer some hope for regenerating the nerve fibers lost in the progression of the disease. Those with relapsing remitting MS, or secondary progressive MS, are the main focus of the current spate of research trials into stem cell treatments. However, those with primary progressive MS are unlikely to benefit from treatments relying simply on immunomodulation as the damage has, in the majority of cases, become too extensive for a significant reversal of disease symptoms to be experienced. Instead, those with primary progressive MS may benefit from treatment with embryonic stem cells introduced intrathecally or intraparenchymally although no research is currently investigating this approach due to lingering safety concerns over hESCs and abnormal tissue growth in vitro.
Using Stem Cells to Research MS Pathology and Medications
Stem cells may also be helpful to MS patients without being used for treatments themselves. This is because it may be possible to use stem cells in the laboratory as models of MS in order to test new medications or treatments prior to use in patients. Combination therapies may also result from such research as stem cell treatments may be beneficial alongside pharmaceutical interventions in some instances. Trials for stem cell treatment in any condition need to go through several stages before a therapy is considered safe and effective and worthy of being made widely available to patients.
Continue Reading –> MS Stem Cell Trials Underway
