Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida Dr. Ashish Sharma of Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida conducts an eye exam. The Naples seminar will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hilton Naples, 5111 U.S. 41 North. An identical seminar in Fort Myers will be Monday from 9 a.m. to noon at Harborside Convention Center, 1375 Monroe St. To register to attend, call 1-866-946-6824, or go to http://www.MassEyeAndEar.organization/symposium. NAPLES Leonard Klein plays tennis and bridge, and both of his games could improve if he has stem cell therapy some day. The 80-year-old suffers from dry macular degeneration. While his vision loss hasnt worsened in recent months, theres no telling the future. Studies are under way to see if stem cell therapy can reverse vision loss for people suffering from age-related macular degeneration. Klein will sign up if such a study opens up to Southwest Florida. Im a risk taker and always have been, he said recently, before heading to a bridge game in the care center at the Vi at Bentley Village, a continuing care retirement community in North Naples. Read the original post: Naples seminar to look at stem cell therapy to aid macular degeneration … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma Also Included In: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 21 Mar 2013 - 12:00 PDT Current ratings for: Cell Therapy Shows Promise For Advanced Leukemia In Adults 3 (1 votes) 1 (1 votes) Similar immune-system therapy has proven effective in children with this cancer as well as in adults with a similar type of leukemia, however, this is the first time this specific therapy has worked in adults. The findings of the current study were based on five patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). T cells were extracted from the patient and modified to express a receptor for protein on other immune cells - called B cells - that are found in both cancerous and healthy tissues. ALL is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow which progresses quickly - if left untreated, patients sometimes die within weeks. The first treatment is generally three phases of chemotherapy drugs. For most patients, this puts the cancer in remission. However, it often comes back. The second treatment agenda is usually another round of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant. The authors point out that when the cancer returns, it is … Continue reading →

Leukemia is never an easy disease to beat back, but adults with relapsed B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or B-ALL, have especially grim prospects. This particular kind of blood cancer progresses quickly, and has only a 30 to 40 percent cure rate in adults. Chemotherapy drugs can sometimes clear out the cancer the first time around, but some patients relapse, requiring another round of chemotherapy, then a bone marrow transplant. But this second round can sometimes fail because the recurring leukemia proves resistant to the drugs. Now, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, scientists have successfully treated B-ALL patients by inserting new genetic material into some of their T cells. The cell therapy allows the patients immune system to find and destroy the places where the blood cancer is hiding out. In one case, the treatment cleared up a patients leukemia in a little more than a week. We had hoped, but couldnt have predicted that the response would be so profound and rapid, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researcher Renier J. Brentjens told the New York Times. Brentjens and his colleagues treated five B-ALL patients with some of their own T cells, which were genetically … Continue reading →

Leukemia is never an easy disease to beat back, but adults with relapsed B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or B-ALL, have especially grim prospects. This particular kind of blood cancer progresses quickly, and has only a 30 to 40 percent cure rate in adults. Chemotherapy drugs can sometimes clear out the cancer the first time around, but some patients relapse, requiring another round of chemotherapy, then a bone marrow transplant. But this second round can sometimes fail because the recurring leukemia proves resistant to the drugs. Now, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, scientists have successfully treated B-ALL patients by inserting new genetic material into some of their T cells. The cell therapy allows the patients immune system to find and destroy the places where the blood cancer is hiding out. In one case, the treatment cleared up a patients leukemia in a little more than a week. We had hoped, but couldnt have predicted that the response would be so profound and rapid, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researcher Renier J. Brentjens told the New York Times. Brentjens and his colleagues treated five B-ALL patients with some of their own T cells, which were genetically … Continue reading →