Category Archives: New York Stem Cells

SATURDAY, Dec. 6, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

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Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment Shows Promise in Small Trial

In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

View original post here:
"Breakthrough" drug shows promise for Hodgkin lymphoma

In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

Read more:
"Breakthrough" drug tested for Hodgkin lymphoma

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) A New York woman battling leukemia was especially grateful this Thanksgiving, as she credited the kindness of a total stranger with helping save her life.

They found the donor, and it was just basically like a weight lifted off my shoulders, said Jeanine Walsh, 38.

As CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez reported Thursday, Walsh the mother of two young children has been battling leukemia for the second time in two years.

I was in total and complete shock, she said.

No members of Walshs family were a match for her, but a willing donor was found through the national registry. Peripheral stem cells were collected from the donor, located in the Western U.S., earlier this week.

The process took just a few hours.

We attach the patient, that is the donor, to a machine. The machine takes blood form the donor, filters out the stem cells if you will, and returns the rest of the blood to the donor, said Dr. Michael Schuster, director of stem cell transplantation at Stony Brook University Hospital.

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Stranger Donates Stem Cells In Hopes Of Curing New York Woman With Leukemia

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Newswise NEW YORK November 20, 2014 The National Eye Institute (NEI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai a five-year grant that will support an effort to re-create a patients ocular stem cells and restore vision in those blinded by corneal disease.

About six million people worldwide have been blinded by burns, trauma, infection, genetic diseases, and chronic inflammation that result in corneal stem cell death and corneal scarring. There are currently no treatments for related vision loss that are effective over the long term. Corneal stem cell transplantation is an option in the short term, but availability of donor corneas is limited, and patients must take medications that suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives to prevent rejection of the transplanted tissue.

A newer proposed treatment option is the replacement of corneal stem cells to restore vision. The grant from the NEI will fund Mount Sinai research to re-create a patients own stem cells and restore vision in those blinded by corneal disease. Technological advances in recent years have enabled researchers to take mature cells, in this case eyelid or oral skin cells, and coax them backward along the development pathways to become stem cells again. These eye-specific stem cells would then be redirected down pathways that become needed replacements for damaged cells in the cornea, in theory restoring vision.

Our findings will allow the creation of transplantable eye tissue that can restore the ocular surface, said Albert Y. Wu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and principle investigator for the grant-funded effort. In the future, we will be able to re-create a patients own corneal stem cells to restore vision after being blind, added Dr. Wu, also Director of the Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory in the Department of Ophthalmology and a member of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute at Icahn School of Medicine. Since the stem cells are their own, patients will not require immunosuppressive drugs, which would greatly improve their quality of life.

Specifically, the grant will support efforts to discover new stem cell therapies for ocular surface disease and make regenerative medicine a reality for people who have lost their vision. The research team will investigate the most viable stem cell sources, seek to create ocular stem cells from eyelid or oral skin cells, explore the molecular pathways involved in ocular and orbital development, and develop cutting-edge biomaterials to engraft a patients own stem cells and restore vision.

Other investigators from Mount Sinai include Ihor Lemischka, PhD, Director, Black Family Stem Cell Institute and J. Mario Wolosin, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology. The research is supported by NEI grant EY023997.

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Mount Sinai Researchers Awarded $1 Million Grant to Find New Stem Cell Therapies for Vision Recovery

The Advancement of Stem Cell Technology

Welcome to the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, an affiliate of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center / Cell Surgical Network of Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, California, USA.

Our affiliated Centers utilize cutting edge advanced techniques and innovative technology to improve the health and well being of our patients.

At the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, we engage in the investigational use of Adult Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) for clinical research and deployment through which patients who are suffering from diseases that may have limited treatment options have an opportunity to respond to stem cell based regenerative medicine and further advance the state of medicine, knowledge, and options for all patients.

Our expertise involves a deep commitment and long-term understanding, knowledge and experience in clinical research and the advancement of regenerative medicine. Our staff and Physicians at the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group have been trained by the Founders and world renown specialists of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, who have been nationally recognized for working with autologous (your own) Adult Autologous Adipose-adipose derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) providing investigational therapy to patients with various inflammatory and/or degenerative conditions.

Our Centers utilize a fat transfer technology to isolate and implant the patients ownAdult Autologous Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) from a small quantity of fat harvested by mini-liposuction on the same day. Using technology developed in South Korea, our Centers have developed an in-office procedure to isolate a cellular medium called Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) which is rich in progenitor and Stem Cells. Our Founders have also worked in conjunction with a number of international organizations and physicians of great expertise to help develop our protocols for procedures. Whereas the California Stem Cell Treatment Center was developed in 2010, in 2012, the Cell Surgical Network (CSN) was formed to provide the same high level quality controlled investigational therapy both nationally and internationally.

Our Protocols are approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board), and accordingly we are able to safely provide adipose (fat)-derived stem cell procedures on an investigational basis to our patients.The approving IRB is registered with the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP). Modeled after the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, weve formed a multidisciplinary team to evaluate patients with a variety of conditions which are known to often be responsive to Stem Cell therapy.

All affiliate members of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center / Cell Surgical Network, including our Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, contribute to the California Centers IRB approved investigational data. In this manner, we are continuously updating, researching, and learning more on how to help patients and advance the state of the art of regenerative medicine.

All patients who are interested in our investigational protocols will be evaluated by our physicians specially trained in our adipose-derived stem cell procedures and given an honest opinion as to the potential benefits and risks of stem cell therapy for their presenting condition.

The Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group is proud to be part of the only Institutional Review Board (IRB)-based stem cell procedure network in the United States that utilizes fat-transfer surgical technology. We have an array of ongoing IRB-approved protocols, and we provide care for patients with a wide variety of disorders that may benefit from adult stem cell-based regenerative therapy. At the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group we exploit anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory and regenerative properties of AdultAutologous Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) to mitigate inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

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New York Stem Cell

As reported on October 5th in Nature, for the first time scientists have derived embryonic stem cells from individual patients by adding the nuclei of adult skin cells from patients with type 1 diabetes to unfertilized donor oocytes.

A team of scientists led by Dieter Egli and Scott Noggle at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory in New York City have made an important advance in the development of patient-specific stem cells that could impact the study and treatment of diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's.

The achievement is significant because such patient-specific cells potentially can be transplanted to replace damaged or diseased cells in persons with diabetes and other diseases without rejection by the patient's immune system. The scientists report further work is necessary before such cells can be used in cell-replacement medicine.

The research was conducted in The NYSCF Laboratory in Manhattan in collaboration with clinicians and researchers at Columbia University Medical Center. DNA analysis was provided by scientists at the University of California, San Diego.

"The specialized cells of the adult human body have an insufficient ability to regenerate missing or damaged cells caused by many diseases and injuries," said Dr. Egli, NYSCF senior scientist in the study. "But if we can reprogram cells to a pluripotent state, they can give rise to the very cell types affected by disease, providing great potential to effectively treat and even cure these diseases. In this three-year study, we successfully reprogrammed skin cells to the pluripotent state. Our hope is that we can eventually overcome the remaining hurdles and use patient-specific stem cells to treat and cure people who have diabetes and other diseases."

"The ultimate goal of this study is to save and enhance lives by finding better treatments and eventually cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other debilitating diseases and injuries affecting millions of people across the US and the globe," said NYSCF CEO Susan L. Solomon. "This research brings us an important step closer to creating new healthy cells for patients to replace their cells that are damaged or lost through injury."

Read the full NYSCF press release here

UPDATE:Read about TIME Magazine's highlight of this research as the Number One Medical Breakthrough of 2011

Read the FAQ about this research here

Read the Nature article here

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Scientists at New York Stem Cell Foundation, Columbia U ...

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Newswise (New York, NY Oct. 14, 2014) A Mount Sinai-led research team has discovered a new kind of stem cell that can become either a liver cell or a cell that lines liver blood vessels, according to a study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The existence of such a cell type contradicts current theory on how organs arise from cell layers in the embryo, and may hold clues to origins of, and future treatment for, liver cancer.

Thanks to stem cells, humans develop from a single cell into a complex being made up of more than 200 cell types. The original, single human stem cell, the fertilized embryo, has the potential to develop into every kind of human cell. Stem cells multiply (proliferate) and specialize (differentiate) until millions of functional cells result, including liver cells (hepatocytes), blood vessel cells (endothelial cells), muscle cells, bone cells, etc.

In the womb, the human embryo early on becomes three germ layers of stem cells the endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. The long-held consensus was that the endoderm goes on to form the liver and other gut organs; the mesoderm the heart, muscles and blood cells; and the ectoderm the brain and skin. Researchers have sought to determine the germ layer that yields each organ because these origins hold clues to healthy function and disease mechanisms in adults.

We found a stem cell that can become either a liver cell, which is thought to originate in the endoderm, or an endothelial cell that helps to from a blood vessel, which was thought to derive from the mesoderm, said Valerie Gouon-Evans, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author for the study. Our results go against traditional germ layer theory, which holds that a stem cell can only go on to become cell types in line with the germ layer that stem cell came from. Endothelial cells may arise from both the endoderm and mesoderm.

Cell Growth Plusses and Minuses Beyond the womb, many human organs contain pools of partially differentiated stem cells, which are ready to differentiate into specific replacement cells as needed. Among these are stem cells that know they are liver cells, but have enough stemness to become more than one cell type.

By advancing the understanding of stem cell processes in the liver, the study offers insights into mechanisms that drive liver cancer. The rapid growth seen in cells as the fetal liver develops is similar in some ways to the growth seen in tumors. Among the factors that make both possible is the building of blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen.

The research teams newfound, liver-based stem cell type has the ability to become part of newly formed blood vessels. Thus, a detailed understanding of it may have a decisive impact on understanding liver cancer progression, said Dr. Gouon-Evans. If similar bi-potential progenitor cells are found in liver cancers, they may be ideal targets for drugs that eradicate not only their descendant liver cancer cells but also the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors.

The new study also has implications for the field of liver regeneration. Many labs seek to understand how the liver repairs itself when damaged, and many clinical trials to determine whether injecting healthy liver cells into damaged livers can repair them.

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Cell Discovery Challenges Dogma on How Fetus Develops; Holds Insights for Liver Cancer and Regeneration

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The key to Transforming Future of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Medicine

This study investigates the global stem cell market for the period 2013 to 2018. The geographic regions covered in the study are the North America, Europe and APAC, followed by a detailed Asia Pacific Region Analysis, which covers countries such as India, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. The stem cell market is covered into four broad segments, namely by products, by technology and by application. The study covers various areas of interest such as regulatory policies within stem cell research, key business updates, analysis of risk factors, and strategic recommendations. Additionally, key clinical milestones, timelines of key clinical events, key companies to watch, and a strategic partnership assessment in the global stem cell market have been included.

Key Findings -The global market for stem cell was $ billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $ billion in 2018, growing at a robust CAGR of% from 2013 to 2018. -The worldwide market for adult stem cell is estimated to be at $billion in 2013 and is projected to reach $ billion by 2018. Adult stem cells constitute % of the total stem cell market. -Cord blood banking is one of the fastest growing segments of the stem cell market. The number of active cord blood banks worldwide have grown from mere in 2005 to over in 2013. -North America's total stem cell market was valued at $ billion in 2013 and is projected to increase to $ billion by 2018. -The European stem cell market was valued at $billion in 2013 and is projected to increase to $billion by 2018. -The Asia-Pacific (APAC) stem cell market was valued at $ billion in 2013 and is projected to increase to $billion by 2018. -APAC countries are progressing fast in the field of various stem cells research, including human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSc) and others. The major hurdle has been the regulatory environment in these countries, but that has been changing lately. Several Asian countries have modified their regulations regarding stem cell research to attract more investors. -India, Singapore and South Korea are the frontrunners and are expected to dominate the APAC stem cells market in the coming years. Favourable regulatory changes and funding support from governments have helped the commercialization of the stem cells industry. -Indian stem cell market was estimated to be $ million in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of % from 2013 to 2018. -Current penetration of stem cell banking in Singapore is % and is expected to grow at a CAGR of % in next years. -South Korea is all set to lead the stem cell research in APAC. Funding in stem cell in this country could be compared to that of US. -Stem cells obtained from adult organisms constitute the main focus of research and the ethics surrounding the use of these cells are quite undisputed. Therapies employing adult stem cells are being developed by various companies (such as ViaCell, StemSource, Osiris Therapeutics, Neural Stem, and Angioblast) and are moving fast from laboratory to the clinical application phase. -Majority of companies pursuing stem cell therapeutics are engaged in the development of adult stem cells derived from sources such as bone marrow, neural tissue, adipose tissue, menstrual blood, and placenta.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p02414037-summary/view-report.html

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Analysis of the Global Stem Cell Market

BOSTON Harvard researchers have pioneered a technique to grow by the billions the insulin-producing cells diabetics lack, a breakthrough that could lead to new ways to treat the disease.

The breakthrough occurs after 15 years of seeking a bulk recipe for making beta cells, which sense the level of sugar in the blood and keep it in a healthy range by making precise amounts of insulin, according to Harvard scientists led by Douglas Melton, who published their work recently in the journal Cell.

The process begins with human stem cells, which have the ability to become any type of tissue or organ.

The technique is an important step toward understanding and treating diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas's beta cells are insufficient or dead. Diabetes affects 347 million people worldwide, and the high blood sugar levels it causes can damage patients' hearts, eyes, kidneys, nervous systems and other tissues.

This is part of the holy grail of regenerative medicine or tissue engineering: trying to make an unlimited source of cells or tissues or organs that you can use in a patient to correct a disease, said Albert Hwa, director of discovery science at JDRF, a New York-based diabetes advocacy group that funded Melton's work.

The procedure for making mature, insulin-secreting beta cells has taken years of painstaking research that led to a 30-day, six-step recipe, Melton said. Laboratories will be able to use the cells to test drugs and learn more about how diabetes occurs, he said.

Susan Solomon, chief executive of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, said the discovery is so significant that it could shift the direction of diabetes research.

It's a new game, she said.

They had to go through an awful lot of trial and error to get to this, said Jeanne Loring, director of The Scripps Research Institute's Center for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, Calif. The proof will be in how well this protocol works for people in other laboratories.

People with type 2 diabetes, in which the body loses its ability to produce insulin over time, usually take drugs that boost its production. About 15 percent of patients with type 2 can't make enough of the hormone, even with drug treatment, and must take daily injections to replace it, Melton said.

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Harvard makes diabetes breakthrough