A study initiated by the World Health Organization and published in the May Journal of the American Medical Association shows that stem cell transplantation has become an accepted therapy worldwide and that the majority of transplant patients received a source of their own (autologous) stem cells.

This global study evaluated the more than 50,000 stem cell transplants performed in a specific calendar year (2006) and found that in 57% of the cases,  the transplants used an autologous, or a patient’s own, source of stem cells for certain cancers and blood disorders. 

This is the first time that the current state of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been documented on a global level, say the authors, led by Alois Gratwohl, MD, from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland. 

This information “has become a necessity for correct patient counseling and healthcare planning,” they add.

Hematopoietic stem cells collected from a newborn’s cord blood have been used successfully for more than 20 years in transplant medicine.  

They are recognized as having distinct advantages compared to other sources of stem cells, because they are younger, more adaptable and have limited exposure to viruses and other environmental factors that can alter cell function.

The authors also note that a matched sibling (within the family) might represent the most efficient way of therapy for a patient with a genetic disorder such as aplastic anemia, thalassemia or severe combined immunodeficiency.

In February 2010, a study reporting the successful treatment of spinal cord injury in dogs using cord blood was released – with researchers confident that the this technique has many potential applications in the treatment of human spinal cord injury.

While previous research on spinal cord injury has typically used rats, this study used dogs which have a spinal cord structure more similar to humans. Within the test group, those dogs that received cellular transplants exhibited gradual improvement in hind limb locomotion two to three weeks after the transplant and also demonstrated reduced cyst and injury size.

The study was a collaborative effort between a team of doctors from the Department of Veterinary Science and Veterinary Anatomy at Konkuk University in Seoul Korea.

Dr Han, President and founder of Histostem, said the research demonstrated a new less invasive method of transplanting cord blood stem cells which avoids surgical exposure and allows the cells to be more precisely transplanted into the spinal cord.

Stem cells that could one day provide therapeutic options for muscle and bone disorders can be easily harvested from the umbilical cord, just as the blood that goes through it provides precursor cells to treat some blood disorders, said University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in the online version of the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology.

Umbilical cord tissue cells can be expanded to greater number, are remarkably stable and might not trigger strong immune responses, said senior investigator Bridget M. Deasy, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine.

The cord could become an accessible source of a multitude of stem cells that overcomes many of the restrictions, such as limited quantity as well as donor age and donor sex issues, that come with other adult stem cell populations.

Dr. Deasy and her team analyzed sections of two-foot-long human umbilical cords that were donated for research, looking for cells in that displayed the characteristic protein markers found in stem cells derived from other sources. The researchers then sought to find the best way to isolate the stem cells from the cords, and tested them in the lab to confirm their ability to produce specialized cells, such as bone and cartilage, while retaining their invaluable ability to renew themselves.

To build on these findings, the team will test the umbilical cord stem cells in animal models of cartilage and bone repair, as well as muscle regeneration.

Co-authors of the paper include lead investigator Rebecca C. Schugar, of Pitt’s Stem Cell Research Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and the Center for Cardiovascular Research, Washington University School of Medicine; Steven M. Chirieleison, Yuko Askew, M.D., Ph.D., Jordan J. Nance, and Joshua M. Evron, all of the Pitt Stem Cell Research Center; Kristin E. Wescoe, Benjamin T. Schmidt, both of Pitt’s Department of Bioengineering; and Bruno Peault, Ph.D., of the University of California-Los Angeles and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a joint effort of Pitt and UPMC.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Research and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.