Latest News on Stem Cell Research

I know everybody has been keenly following the Ocata clinical trial using human derived embryonic stem cells to treat both Stargardt's Disease and Age Related Macular Degeneration. Ocata published a  press release on 31 March. Here are the main points:

• The Phase I/II study has been successfully completed on 38 patients with both conditions. This phase was to look at safety and dosing of the stem cells and has been reported to have no major risks or adverse events.
• The Phase II part of the study has been given the go ahead and will also be conducted in England as well as the United States. 
• The next phase will once again be looking at the safety and also the efficacy (ie if it improves vision) against a control group (used as a comparison for change). The effects of immuno-suppressant drug use will also be evaluated. 

What does this mean? 

It seems as though the trial is going well - since it moving ahead we can assume that there have been no major reactions from patients receiving the injections and that some benefit is being observed. The next part of the trial will recruit a greater number of participants to further evaluate what impact stem cell implantation may have on vision. The researchers will also try to find the best way of implanting the cells for greatest benefit.

There's still a little way to go before we will know for sure whether this treatment will work, although it is definitely looking positive at this stage. Generally a therapeutic trial will pass through four phases, each recruiting an increased number of patients.

I shall keep following and continue to update everyone!

Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/387591111654602018/

Update on Stem Cell Treatment

If you haven't already heard, results from the phase I trial using human embryonic stem cells for patients with Stargardt's Disease and Macular Degeneration have been published in the Lancet, and the results are very promising!

Nine patients were treated from each disease which involved surgical implantation of the stem cells into the retina of one affected eye. The main aim of phase I trials is to test the safety of the intervention, so whether there were an adverse events or complications from having the stem cells implanted, and in this case whether the stem cells 'stuck' to the eye. The investigators also looked at whether there was any improvement in vision.

Excitingly, the results were very promising - there was no major adverse events (although some patients with Stargardt's developed cataracts but this was treated surgically and didn't affect vision after treatment), no rejection of the implanted cells, no abnormal tumour growth and it looked as though the cells remained functioning at follow-up (which was up to two years after initial implantation). To top it off, there was also objectively reported improvement in vision in the treated eye!

To put it in perspective, this is still early days and we won't be running out to get stem cells injected tomorrow. Although it is definitely looking like a very possible treatment in the future and in our lifetime! The next step is to proceed to a phase II trial which will include a larger number of patients and find the best dose (number of cells to be injected) to gain the best results. Further evidence of the effectiveness will be developed to show how much vision can be restored, if it is permanent, whether the implantation needs to be done in the early stages of the disease and many other questions.

This is extremely exciting and shows how amazing modern medical science can be. It can give us all a little more hope that potentially in the future we may be able to see better, and if not us, the generations to come who will unluckily have to experience the hurdles we have faced. 

For more information here are the links to the results and news reports:

Wall Street Journal

The Lancet

FYI

Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), who late last year were granted FDA approval to conduct clinical trials for embryonic stem cell treatments for Stargardt's patients, has now also been given approval to use embryonic stem cells to treat patients with Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).. It seems to be a very similar trial, using the same cells to produce new RPE cells for the macular, and it is also in the first phase of safety trials. This trial could also be important for us Stargardt's patients as the conditions are similar. Check out the ACT website:

ACT - Approval for Trials of ESC's for AMD