Stem cells therapy is only really established as a treatment for diseases of the blood. Blood stem cells (haematopoietic stem cells) are used to treat leukaemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders. First, the patient’s own blood cells are killed off, then the stem cells from a matched donor are transplanted via a vein. The complications can therefore result from the fact that a) the treatment given to kill off the patient’s own blood cells can be pretty harsh, and b) the stem cells come from another person so those new cells can recognise the new body they are in as “foreign” and attack it – this is known as graft versus host disease. This problem can be avoided if the donated cells come from the patient themselves (this is known as an autologous stem cell transplant).
There are many more areas of medicine for which stem cell transplants are being explored. There is a lot of excitement about the potential of coupling autologous stem cell transplant with genetic engineering to treat genetic diseases. In this case, you would either isolate or make (induce) some stem cells from a patient with a genetic disorder, then engineer the cells to correct the genetic problem that they have, then transplant them back into the patient – the aim would be that the cells are genetically exactly the same as the patient that they came from (no chance of rejection) except that they now are able to perform the function that was missing before. People are starting to explore these uses in the research setting. The only real concern is that we are not perfect at genetic engineering yet so the process could introduce additional genetic changes, or off-target effects, that might cause a new problem for the patient e.g. cancer. So, it is likely that the first uses will be for severe diseases because then the benefits outweigh the risks. Here is a nice example: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/boy-rare-disease-gets-new-skin-thanks-gene-corrected-stem-cells
According to my research, the biggest side effect of stem cells is there possibility to transform into cancer.
Therefore, until this issue has not been fixed, transplantation in humans will be delayed.
Comments
Gemma commented on :
Stem cells therapy is only really established as a treatment for diseases of the blood. Blood stem cells (haematopoietic stem cells) are used to treat leukaemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders. First, the patient’s own blood cells are killed off, then the stem cells from a matched donor are transplanted via a vein. The complications can therefore result from the fact that a) the treatment given to kill off the patient’s own blood cells can be pretty harsh, and b) the stem cells come from another person so those new cells can recognise the new body they are in as “foreign” and attack it – this is known as graft versus host disease. This problem can be avoided if the donated cells come from the patient themselves (this is known as an autologous stem cell transplant).
There are many more areas of medicine for which stem cell transplants are being explored. There is a lot of excitement about the potential of coupling autologous stem cell transplant with genetic engineering to treat genetic diseases. In this case, you would either isolate or make (induce) some stem cells from a patient with a genetic disorder, then engineer the cells to correct the genetic problem that they have, then transplant them back into the patient – the aim would be that the cells are genetically exactly the same as the patient that they came from (no chance of rejection) except that they now are able to perform the function that was missing before. People are starting to explore these uses in the research setting. The only real concern is that we are not perfect at genetic engineering yet so the process could introduce additional genetic changes, or off-target effects, that might cause a new problem for the patient e.g. cancer. So, it is likely that the first uses will be for severe diseases because then the benefits outweigh the risks. Here is a nice example: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/boy-rare-disease-gets-new-skin-thanks-gene-corrected-stem-cells
Stéphane commented on :
According to my research, the biggest side effect of stem cells is there possibility to transform into cancer.
Therefore, until this issue has not been fixed, transplantation in humans will be delayed.