Stem cells have long been used to treat blood cancers and some immune diseases. But some doctors are offering stem cell treatments for diseases still under clinical trial. Photograph: Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images Medical and legal experts from around the world have united to call for more stringent regulation of stem cell therapies to prevent people pursuing unproven and potentially deadly treatments overseas. In a perspective piece for the US journal Science Translational Medicine, 15 experts from countries including the UK, the US, Canada, Belgium, Italy and Japan wrote that national efforts alone would not be enough to counter an industry offering unproven treatments to vulnerable patients. Stem cell-based interventions are classified under diverse and potentially incompatible national regulatory frameworks, the authors wrote. Approaches for international regulation not only need to develop consistent rules over the commercialisation of medical practices and products but also need to give them teeth by developing cross-border partnerships for compliance. Stem cells found in bone marrow and umbilical cord blood have long been used to successfully treat blood cancers including leukaemia and some immune diseases. But those are among the few proven treatments. Legitimate and ethics-approved clinical trials by academic centres are also occurring, exploring the … Continue reading →

Scientists in the U.S. have identified a molecular pathway that appears to play a key role in the link between a high-fat diet (HFD) and the development of colorectal cancer. The research, led by the Cleveland Clinics Sheerlarani Karunanithi, and Matthew Kalady, suggests that it may one day be possible to develop drugs that reduce tumor growth associated with obesity and a diet that is high in fat. Their research is published today, in Stem Cell Reports, in a paper titled, RBP4-STRA6 Pathway Drives Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance and MediatesHigh-Fat Diet-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis. The Cleveland Clinic teams review of published research indicated that high expression levels of two vitamin A signalling proteinsserum retinol binding protein (RPB4), stimulated by retinoic acid 6 (STRA6)in colorectal cancer tumors is associated with poor prognosis, increased tumor metastasis and recurrence, and resistance to cancer therapy. The RBP4-STRA6 pathway triggers the JAK2-STAT3 signaling cascade. The researchers engineered STRA6- or RBP4-knockdown cancer cells to demonstrate that the RBP4-STRA6 pathway is important for promoting cancer cell proliferation and survival and for maintaining the expression of core stem cell transcription factors. They also found that the RBP4-STRA6 pathway plays a key role in maintaining colon cancer stem cells (CSCs), … Continue reading →

Stem cells have saved thousands of lives thanks to their applications in cancer treatments. Many other uses peddled by private clinics are without evidence. Stem cell science is an area of medical research that continues to offer great promise. But as this weeks paper in Science Translational Medicine highlights, a growing number of clinics around the globe, including in Australia, are exploiting regulatory gaps to sell so-called stem cell treatments without evidence that what they offer is effective or even safe. Such unregulated direct-to-consumer advertising typically of cells obtained using liposuction-like methods not only places the health of individuals at risk, but could also undermine the legitimate development of stem cell-based therapies. Many academic societies and professional medical organisations have raised concerns about these futile and often expensive cell therapies. Despite this, national regulators have typically been slow or ineffective in curtailing them. As well as tighter regulations here, international regulators such as the World Health Organisation and the International Council on Harmonisation need to move on ensuring patients desperate for cures arent sold treatments with limited efficacy and unknown safety. Hundreds of stem cell clinics post online claims that they have been able to treat patients suffering from a … Continue reading →