Next month will see Aucklander, Frances Everall celebrating the fourth anniversary since her successful reinfusion with her cord blood stem cells, a very special milestone her family never thought she’d see.
In 2007, aged just four, Frances Everall was diagnosed with a Stage 4 Neuroblastoma (a cancer of the nervous system) and one of the options given by doctors at Starship was to take her home to die. If the cancer didn’t kill her the doctors said, the treatment possibly would.
Family member Kristina Anderson said there was no history of cancer and they were devastated when doctors at Starship said Frances wasn’t expected to survive the Stage 4 cancer they diagnosed.
But thanks to their decision to bank Frances’ cord blood at her birth, they were able to use these precious stem cells to rebuild her immune system after it was destroyed through the cancer treatment.
Today Frances is healthy little girl enjoying school and time with her family and friends.
“You never know what’s going to happen in your child’s future – having the cord blood stored saved her life.”
The family thinks of it as similar to taking out a fire insurance policy, “You don’t want your house to burn down but if it did you’d be pleased you had planned for it,” said Kristina.
A study at Shandong University in China is currently recruiting participants to investigate the efficacy of cord blood stem cells to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form of diabetes. In New Zealand about 270,000 people have Type 2 diabetes and about one third of cases of Type 2 diabetes are undiagnosed. The numbers of people developing Type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing.
Type 2 diabetes most often occurs in adulthood between the ages of 30 to 40. However, increasing numbers of teenagers and children are developing Type 2 diabetes. New estimates indicate 500 young people aged between 10 and 18 years have the disease that was, only a few years ago, virtually unknown in this age group.*
The study started in July this year and will be completed in July 2014. To read more on the study click here
Back in 2009, we reported on research from Italy published in the journal Cell Transplantation that investigated whether hearing loss due to cochlear damage could be repaired by transplanting cord blood stem cells. At the time the research team carried out their testing on animal models. Moving forward to 2011, the research is now ready to be tested on humans.
The University of Texas Health Science Centre in Houston is now recruiting human participants for a trial to investigate the use of autologous cord blood stem cell treatment in children with acquired hearing loss.
Acquired sensorineural hearing loss is characterised by a loss of functioning hair cells in the Organ of Corti, with greater hair cell loss correlating with more severe hearing impairment. Children with sensorineural hearing loss experience difficulty developing normal language which usually leads to poor academic and social development. Currently, there are no reparative therapeutic options available, and treatments are designed to augment the diminished function of the injured Organ of Corti.
Pre-clinical data suggests progenitor cell infusions may enhance intrinsic repair mechanisms in the Organ of Corti which may restore hair cells. This treatment could ultimately lead to hearing improvement. Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) is an available, autologous, stored progenitor cell population available for potential therapeutic use.
The primary objective of this study is to determine the safety of autologous hUCB infusion in children with acquired hearing loss. The secondary objective is to determine if functional, physiologic and anatomic outcomes are improved following hUCB treatment in this patient population.