Cancer
- Nov. 2, 2011- New research has shown that less-intense treatment methods have helped older patients suffering from blood cancers. Past treatments were age-restricted and considered dangerous and ineffective for older patients.
- July 22, 2011- A Stanford study found that metastatic breast cancer treatments involving high-dose chemotherapy followed by injections of purified adult stem cells worked better than normal stem cell transplants. Earlier studies showed high-dose chemotherapy was not an effective treatment because cancer cells were present in the normal transplants.
- July 8, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal reported that Swedish doctors have treated a patient suffering from a fatal tumor in his windpipe. Researchers created the world's first artificial windpipe by growing the patient's own bone marrow stem cells on an artificial scaffold shaped like his windpipe.
- Oct. 24, 2010 - The Lansing State Journal reported that Dansville, Mich., resident Heather Allen received an adult stem cell treatment for her aggressive form of leukemia. Her brother, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, donated his own blood for the bone marrow stem cell transplant.
- Aug. 2, 2010 - ABC News reported that two patients suffering from a rare form of trachea cancer received transplanted windpipes that utilized their own adult stem cells. The donor windpipes were stripped of living cells, and the patients' stem cells were able to regenerate and create a functioning windpipe. This technique, used in other cases to replace injured windpipes, eliminates concerns that patients' bodies might reject the donated tissue.
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Jan. 18, 2010 - The Telegraph published a story which relates how scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have discovered a more efficient way to use umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat people suffering from leukemia. Researchers added an engineered protein that increases the number of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Seven of 10 patients were successfully treated in the study.
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July 28, 2007 - Medical News Today reported on a retrospective study by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The study found that patients with testicular cancer who aren’t treated successfully using traditional methods can be cured using high doses of chemotherapy and a transplant of their own stem cells.
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July 11, 2007 - Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have used stem cells from umbilical cord blood to help treat patients suffering from leukemia. They've also been working on a method of growing the umbilical cord stem cells more quickly so patients spend less time being vulnerable to infection.