 |
 |
Monday, 4 June 2001 16:16 (ET) Stem cell therapy may cure incontinence By ED SUSMAN, UPI Science News ANAHEIM, Calif., June 4 (UPI) - Perhaps as early as next year, a person suffering from incontinence will be able to undergo a procedure in which cells from his or her own body are used to repair muscles in weakened bladders or damaged sphincters. "We are ready to go," said Dr. Michael Chancellor, professor of urology and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh. "We have shown that this works in animals in several studies. Now we are waiting on approval to start human treatments from the Food and Drug Administration and our own institutions." Chancellor and colleagues presented several studies Monday explaining how they were able to make stem cells develop into smooth muscle cells and repair damaged organs in mice. Now, he said at a press briefing during the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, it is time to bring the procedure to people. He said about 17 million people in the United States, mainly women, suffer from incontinence, an inability to control their damaged bladders or sphincter muscles. Embarrassing failures may occur unexpectedly -- often when a person laughs or sneezes. Here's how the procedure would work, Chancellor explained: A small surgical biopsy would be performed in the person's arm muscle. The cells would then be separated by scientists searching for about 100 stem cells -- special cells that can develop into different types of muscular cells. Chancellor said that in 1,000 cells perhaps he can find one stem cell. These isolated stem cells are then incubated in culture until millions of them have been grown, a process that takes about a month. The patient then returns to the doctor's office where, using fiber optic devices, the doctor will locate precisely the damaged area of the sphincter muscle. Using a syringe, he'll inject the stem cells into the damaged area, and then send the patient home. The whole in-office procedure could be completed in 10 minutes. "It will take about three weeks for the stem cells to link up and build a solid fiber of muscle," Chancellor said. If the stem cells form into smooth muscle cells, as they have in animal models, the patient's incontinence will be cured, he asserted. The treatment avoids several problems that currently trouble stem cell research, Chancellor noted. It utilizes cells from the person's own body, greatly reducing the risk that the transplanted stem cells will be rejected by the body's immune system. By using cells from the patients themselves and not from fetal or embryonic tissue, this approach avoids the ethical, political and religious issues that have slowed down such research. The stem cells that have been coaxed into repairing the sphincter -- and may some day be used to rebuild bladders -- appear to grow only to fill the role required in the repair activity. The cells do not keep growing uncontrollably, Chancellor said. He said that now the major roadblock to performing the procedure in humans is a reluctance of his institution to be directly involved in the human experiments. Establishing a startup, biotechnology company to conduct the clinical trials is being considered. Chancellor and others hold patents involved in parts of the procedure. "This is the wave of the future," said Dr. Thomas Brady, chairman of the media committee of the AUA. "This is real, and has the potential to help a lot of people." Brady, also a clinical professor of surgery at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, said, "This is extremely exciting research." He anticipated, however, that the work will still generate controversy. "Whenever you mention stem cell research, there are people who become concerned even if this doesn't involve tissue [from] outside one's own body." -- http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=191165 http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=191139 ********** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn