Archive for March, 2017

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Atlanta Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow kisses his 15-month-old daughter, Julie, after the first day of training camp in Flowery Branch, Ga., on July 28, 2016.(Photo: Curtis Compton, Associated Press)

Height, weight: 6 feet, 230 pounds.

Joined the Lions:Worrilow, who turns 27 in May, agreed to a one-year contract with the Lions on Wednesday.

NFL career: He made the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 as an undrafted free agent after being a walk-on at Delaware. Worrilow was the Falcons' starting middle linebacker job in 2013-15. He led the team in tackles each of his first two seasons. Last season, the Falcons wanted to get faster at linebacker, so they drafted two, and Worrilow lost his job to rookie Deion Jones. Worrilow was relegated mostly tospecial teams in 2016 and played just four defensive snaps in the playoffs -- none in the Super Bowl.I know I can go and play good ball, Worrilow told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Whether if thats here or somewhere else.

Off the field:In 2011, he signed up for Delawares bone-marrow program. He underwent a six-hour procedure to donate peripheral blood stem cells to an anonymous 21-year-old leukemia patient.

Lions to make Ricky Wagner highest-paid RT; he's 'living his dream'

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

Download our free Lions Xtra app on your Apple and Android devices.

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Lions LB Paul Worrilow gave stem cells to anonymous leukemia patient - Detroit Free Press

Neuroscientists pinpoint key gene controlling tumor growth in brain cancers Science Daily Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified a stem cell-regulating gene that affects tumor growth in patients with brain cancer and can strongly influence survival rates of patients. The findings, published in the online ... Led by Yu, investigators ... and more »

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Neuroscientists pinpoint key gene controlling tumor growth in brain cancers - Science Daily

Targeting cancer stem cells may be a more effective way to overcome cancer resistance and prevent the spread of squamous cell carcinoma the most common head and neck cancer and the second-most common skin cancer, according to a new study by cancer researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is a highly invasive form of cancer and frequently spreads to the cervical lymph nodes. Currently, cisplatin is the standard therapeutic drug used for people with HNSCC. Yet, more than 50 percent of people who take cisplatin demonstrate resistance to the drug, and they experience a recurrence of the cancer. The five-year survival rates remain sorely low and researchers still dont understand the underlying mechanisms behind head and neck squamous carcinoma. Therefore, said UCLA cancer biologist Dr. Cun-Yu Wang, who led the study, theres an urgent need to understand why people with this type of cancer are resistant to therapy and to develop new approaches for treating it.

Wangs researchis published online today in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell.

Cancer stem cells are known to be responsible for tumor formation and development; they also self-renew and tend to be unresponsive to cancer therapy. These cells have been found in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Given the unique challenges that cancer stem cells pose for oncologists, it remains unclear what the optimal therapeutic strategy is for treating HNSCC.

To address this, Wang, who holds the Dr. No-Hee Park Endowed Chair in Dentistry at UCLA and holds a joint appointment in the UCLA Department of Bioengineering, and his research team first developed a mouse model of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that allowed them to identity the rare cancer stem cells present in HNSCC usingin vivolineage tracing, a method to identify all progeny of a single cell in tissues.

The researchers found that the cancer stem cells expressed the stem cell protein Bmi1 and had increased activator protein-1, known as AP-1, a transcription factor that controls the expression of multiple cancer-associated genes. Based on these new findings, the UCLA team developed and compared different therapeutic strategies for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. They found that a combination of targeting cancer stem cells and killing the tumor mass, consisting of high proliferating cells, with chemotherapy drugs resulted in better outcomes.

The team further discovered that cancer stem cells were not only responsible for squamous cell carcinoma development, but that they also cause cervical lymph node metastasis.

This study shows that for the first time, targeting the proliferating tumor mass and dormant cancer stem cells with combination therapy effectively inhibited tumor growth and prevented metastasis compared to monotherapy in mice, said Wang, who is a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Our discovery could be applied to other solid tumors such as breast and colon cancer, which also frequently metastasizes to lymph nodes or distant organs.

With this new and exciting study, Dr. Wang and his team have provided the building blocks for understanding the cellular and genetic mechanisms behind squamous cell carcinoma, said Dr. Paul Krebsbach, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry. The work has important translational values. Small molecule inhibitors for cancer stem cells in this study are available or being utilized in clinical trials for other diseases. It will be interesting to conduct a clinical trial to test these inhibitors for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Additional authors of the study include Demeng Cheng, first author and postdoctoral scholar in Wangs lab; Mansi Wu, Yang Li, Dr. Insoon Chang, Yuan Quan, Mari Salvo, Peng Deng, Dr. Bo Yu, Yongxin Yu, Jiaqiang Dong, John M. Szymanski, Sivakumar Ramadoss and Jiong Li who are all from the laboratory of molecular signaling in the division of oral biology and medicine at the UCLA School of Dentistry.

This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grants R37DE13848, R01DE15964 and R01DE043110.

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Targeting cancer stem cells improves treatment effectiveness and prevents metastasis - HealthCanal.com (press release) (blog)

OSAKA -- Three academic and business groups in Japan are planning to conduct clinical studies on donated stem cells in the fiscal year starting next month, aiming to commercialize such regenerative therapy.

So far, only one clinical study has looked at creating tissue from induced pluripotent stem cells. The cells could be harvested from donors and grown into skin and other body parts that would replace damaged tissue.

The method promises to be less costly. A bank of donated cells would also eliminate the time needed to grow tissues using the patient's own stem cells.

The three groups announced their research plans at a recent gathering held in Sendai, a city north of Tokyo,by the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine. Japan Tissue Engineering, a Fujifilm Holdings subsidiary, is joining Kyoto University to heal victims of severe burns with grown skin grafts. The partners are mulling either physician-led clinical trials or preliminary clinical research. Kyoto University Hospital will certify the results.

Tissue reconstruction is expected to start in about a week depending on the substance exuded by the transplanted skin cells. The procedure is said to cost between 1 million yen and 2 million yen ($8,700 and $17,400) -- less than a quarter what's required for conventional methods. Apart from Japan, operations in Southeast Asia and other places are also on the table.

Rohto Pharmaceutical and a team at Niigata University led by Shuji Terai aim to cure liver cirrhosis through stem cells harvested from fatty tissues during surgeries. Substances excreted by the implanted stem cells will spur the regeneration of damaged liver tissue. The group will submit applications for clinical trials to the Japanese government and elsewhere by this summer.

A team led by associate professor Takanori Iwata at Tokyo Women's Medical University looks to repair the base of teeth lost to severe periodontal disease. For the clinical trial being planned, donor stem cells mainly from wisdom teeth will be implanted into patients.

(Nikkei)

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Japan kicking regenerative medicine development into high gear - Nikkei Asian Review

Throughout popular culture, there have been cautionary tales of what happens to people who awakenaftercenturies of cryogenic preservation.

There was the 1969 science fiction moviePlanet of the Apes, which saw astronauts returning to an unrecognizable Earth, now ruled by apes. The1973 comedy film Sleeper featured Woody Allen as a Greenwich Village health food store owner who is awakened after two centuries of cryopreservation to finda dystopian world, in which he is asked to assassinate a corrupt dictator. Hesdeemed perfect for the job,because there are no records thathe ever existed. And ina 1988 episode of Star Trek The Next Generation,a businessman awakens after four centuries, expecting to find that hisnet worth has ballooned during his absence. Too his dismay, he learns that humans have cast aside little things like money.

These are, admittedly,fanciful examples of what could happen to people who are preserved through cryogenics or suspended animation.But if preservation technologiesgain the ability to preserve life for years or decades,there will be a day when weare reviving people ineras that are far differentthan those they were born in. This could bring all sorts of legal and financial complications. And how does a person whogoes to sleep for a century or more, relate togreat-great-grandchildren who are, by all appearances, the same age?

With biotechnology advancing we might be at a crossroads when people need to start considering possible scenarios to develop contingencies. The urgency for doing so surely is influenced by the current status of research and how soon we are likely to see long-term human hibernation an attractive option for people dealing with life-threateninginjuries or illnesses for which there are no current cures.

Hibernation research

A handful of research groups around the world are studying the brain pathways that enable mammals that hibernate naturally to survive, and even thrive,when core bodytemperature drops. Lower than normal core body temperature is called hypothermia and its being put to an increasing number of applications in clinical medicine. Routine clinical applications include post-cardiac arrest induced hypothermia a mildtherapeuticcoolingof patients who lose consciousness after their heart stops.

In mild hypothermia, thebody temperature is below the normal 98.6 degrees as low as86 degrees. The condition also isinduced routinely during open heart surgery. Moderate hypothermia generally refers to core temperature in the range of 68 to 86degrees. Applications using moderate hypothermia include surgery on the great vessels that carry blood into and out of the heart, and certain brain operations. Deep or profound hypothermia involves temperatures below 68degrees, and is the main strategy in a clinical study inducing suspended animation (called EPR-CAT) in victims of trauma who have lost enormous amounts of blood.

Non-hibernators, such as humans and dogs, respond with progressively worse complications when moving from mild to moderate to profound hypothermia. Consequently, clinically-relevant research in natural hibernators is aimed at triggering brain pathways in human patients to signal organ systems to react to cooling the same way thathibernators do.

Cryonics

The largest and most active cryonics unit is Alcor Life Extension, an Arizona-based nonprofit that currently has some 130 people in cryopreservation. Techniques for preservation have been evolving, since the company was founded in 1972. People used to be frozen. Buttoday they are vitrified solidified into a glass-like state. The goal is to preserve the molecular integrity of body cells especially in the brain and the geometry between the cells as it exists at the time that the person is declared dead. This maximizes the chances that memories in the brain will be preserved. Nobody has yet been revived, but preservation of memory is thought to be plausible for a couple of reasons. The first isthat vitrification is now being studied for preservation of donated organs, which have been thawed successfully andtransplanted into laboratory animals. Also, vitrified brains of non-human animals have been shown to preserve their microscopic anatomy.

Why is Alcor in Arizona? The main reason is that the risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters is fairly low. People opting for cryonics expect that their bodies might be in stasis for timescales measured in centuries.

As far as financial matters go, many of Alcors clients use life insurance policies to cover the cost of preservation and maintenance ($200,000 for a whole body or$80,000 for just the head). People use trust funds if they havenet worth they want to recover whenrevived in the future.

The rationale presented to those considering cryonics is that theres no guarantee they willever be revived, but that it isreasonable that theymight be. Along with chemicals called cryoprotectants, bodies getting preserved receive a host of medications. The list of the agents used is constantly evolving and continuing research is likely to reveal alternative methods that preserve organ function and cell integrity better. This means that cryopreservation is likely to work better years and decades into the future than it works now, even before getting to the milestone of having somebody revived.

Another factor that could affect the quality of preservation is how quickly Alcor begins the preservation process after declaration of death. Consequently, people who reside in Scottsdale or in the Phoenix metropolitan area may be at an advantage. This raises the issue of whether it could advantageous to begin the cooling process before a patient is declared dead. This would not be allowed in the United States just yet, but Alcor executives have mentioned on a few occasions that the company is considering how patient choice laws in different jurisdictions could impact the preservation process. Countries like the Netherlands, or even in certain US states like Oregon, have more liberal assisted suicide laws. Perhaps, this could eventually lead to a situation in which cryopreservation could begin sooner.

The chances of this happening might also be improved if research on human hibernation gets to the point where people who are medically, physiologically stable can be put into a low metabolic state that physicians have learned to reverse. In such a case, the patient would not have to depend on somefuture societylearning to reverse the preservation process. That could transformhumanhibernation intoa common procedure. Then, preservation would really be what cryonicists consider it to be already an extension of emergency medicine.

David Warmflash is an astrobiologist, physician and science writer. Follow @CosmicEvolution to read what he is saying on Twitter.

Visit link:
Frozen in time: Human hibernation bet on future life-saving therapies faces obstacles - Genetic Literacy Project

JaCeon Golden has only ever known the inside of hospitals. But the treatment hes receiving may have implications far beyond his as-yet isolated life.

Round-faced and big-eyed, with a perpetual pout that belies his sunny nature, he looks as healthy as any other 5-month-old. But JaCeon was born without a functioning immune system. Even the most banal of infections a cold, a diaper rash could be deadly.

Earlier this year, JaCeon became the first baby at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital at Mission Bay to undergo an experimental gene therapy treatment that, doctors hope, will nudge his body to build a new, robust immune system.

From right: Dannie Hawkins checks on her nephew Ja'Ceon Golden, who is being held by patient care assistant Grace Deng at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Golden, who is five months old, is diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). He is a patient at UCSF, where he stays in a sterile room. The hospital is working on a new gene therapy treatment for SCID. Hawkins brought her nephew Golden from New Mexico for the experimental treatment.

From right: Dannie Hawkins checks on her nephew Ja'Ceon Golden, who...

So far, his results are promising. In a few weeks, JaCeons great aunt, whos also his guardian, hopes to introduce him to the world outside.

Am I going to see him smile when we walk out of here? Dannie Hawkins, 52, said with a glance at the baby, being fed from a bottle by a nurse wearing a gown and gloves. Hows he going to do in the free world?

It will be a while months, probably years before JaCeon is able to fully integrate with that wide world: go to school and birthday parties, ride a public bus, swim in a community pool. But that those activities may be in his future at all is extraordinary.

The treatment given to JaCeon is the result of decades of research into gene therapy that included a string of striking failures that led many doctors to abandon the pursuit altogether.

Gene therapy long had been considered a potential treatment for severe combined immunodeficiency disorder, or SCID, the condition JaCeon was born with, and some other genetic syndromes. The idea is to replace a single gene thats causing trouble.

Even as many doctors gave up on the promise of gene therapy, teams of stubborn scientists kept plugging away. And a few years ago, their experiments started to work, propelled by advances in the understanding of stem cells in this case, a type called hematopoietic stem cells that live in bone marrow and are responsible for generating blood and immune cells and improved methods of delivering genetic repairs.

JaCeon Golden is treated by patient care assistant Grace Deng (center) and pediatric oncology nurse Kat Wienskowski.

JaCeon Golden is treated by patient care assistant Grace Deng...

Now human gene therapy is being tested in trials at UCLA, where a team has treated 20 children with one type of SCID, and at UCSF in collaboration with St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis. Both trials are funded by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the states stem cell agency, located in Oakland.

Researchers are studying similar therapies in hopes of curing genetic syndromes like sickle cell disease. And the stem cell agency is funding gene therapy research into potential treatments for HIV, brain cancer and Huntingtons disease, among others.

Gene therapy has been shown to work, the efficacy has been shown. And its safe, said Sohel Talib, a senior science officer at the state stem cell agency. The confidence has come. Now we have to follow it up.

JaCeon was born at a hospital in Las Cruces, N.M., and diagnosed with SCID just after birth as part of a standard newborn screening. He was flown to UCSF, one of a handful of facilities with expertise in SCID, when he was 3 weeks old. His great-aunt joined him about a month later, in November.

The immune disorder is commonly known as bubble baby disease, because until fairly recently kids born with it had to live in isolation, often in plastic bubbles in hospital rooms or their own homes to protect them from infections.

Babies born with SCID have a genetic mutation that leaves their immune system unable to develop disease-fighting cells. Without treatment, most will die within a year. Since the 1970s, some babies with SCID were cured with a bone-marrow transplant. But to be effective, a perfect match was required, almost always from a sibling, and only about a fifth of kids have such a match.

Ja'Ceon Golden is held by patient care assistant Grace Deng, as Deng bottle feeds Golden at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Golden, who is five months old, is diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). He is a patient at UCSF, where he stays in a sterile room. The hospital is working on a new gene therapy treatment for SCID. Golden was brought from New Mexico for the experimental treatment.

Ja'Ceon Golden is held by patient care assistant Grace Deng, as...

The rest could undergo a bone marrow transplant from a partial match in JaCeons case, his great-aunt was one but even when that treatment was successful, kids were left with fragile immune systems that required constant maintenance with antibiotics and other boosts.

Gene therapy, though, may prove as effective as a bone marrow transplant from a perfect match.

The procedure starts with doctors harvesting stem cells from a babys own bone marrow, usually taken from the hip. In JaCeons case, his stem cells were sent in January to St. Jude in Memphis, where scientists are perfecting the gene-therapy delivery mechanism.

Sending away JaCeons stem cells was probably the most stressful time of my life, short of my own kids maybe being born, said Dr. Morton Cowan, the lead investigator of the UCSF trial, who has worked in SCID research for more than 30 years.

JaCeons stem cells were flown east over the first big weekend of major storms in California. Flights were being canceled around the clock, and doctors only had a window of about 36 hours to get the fresh cells to the labs in Memphis.

The trip was successful, but not without a hitch. After the cells were engineered and were being sent back to California, the material for a few heart-stopping hours got lost in the mail.

In a couple of months, Cowan said, he hopes to be able to do the gene-therapy delivery at UCSF labs, avoiding the travel headaches.

For now, that still happens at St. Jude. Doctors used a virus in fact, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS to deliver the gene therapy to JaCeons stem cells. The virus is neutered, with all of the disease-causing pieces inside removed.

Whats left is a missile-like shell designed to infiltrate a cell and deliver whatever payload doctors have inserted inside in this case, a healthy gene that will restore the stem cells ability to build normal immune cells.

Back in San Francisco, the cells were infused into JaCeon via a port in his chest. Because theyre his own cells, there was no fear his body would reject them.

He did have to undergo mild chemotherapy to kill off some of his own bone marrow and make room for the re-engineered stem cells to roost, but UCSF has been developing a technique for limiting the dosage of chemotherapy given in gene therapy procedures.

JaCeon suffered no obvious side effects from either the stem cell infusion or the chemotherapy drugs, doctors said.

Hes just thriving. Hes just hes great, Cowan said. He added, We cant open the Champagne just yet, but early tests show the new gene is active, and JaCeon has had an uptick of certain immune cells.

The infusion procedure took just 20 minutes, and JaCeon slept through it, but it felt momentous nonetheless.

It had been difficult to decide to enroll JaCeon in the trial, Hawkins said. Since she was a partial match for a bone marrow transplant, she had the option of giving him the traditional and well-tested therapy.

Shed said to his doctors, So youre telling me hes a guinea pig? They told her, she recalls, If it works, he can open the door for other kids.

That night, as Hawkins slept on the decision, I kept waking up, waking up, all night long, she said. If there was a possibility he could save someone else ... she added, and then broke off in tears.

She spends about six hours with JaCeon every day, beginning each morning with a bath in sterile water, brought by nurses in special tubs. Shes constantly wiping down his toys, clothes, bedding and stuffed animals.

Ive changed a lot of diapers in my time, but this is way more complicated than with other kids, Hawkins said, demonstrating the multistep process she uses to prevent diaper rash.

Im not going to say its been easy, she said. But hes doing fine. I wouldnt have it any other way.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @erinallday

Read more from the original source:
Amid advances in gene therapy, 'bubble baby' in SF gains hope - San Francisco Chronicle

myfox8.com

Women's Health: Women, Headaches and Migraines myfox8.com When life style changes aren't enough, your doctor may recommend other treatment such as hormone therapy, over the counter medication, doctor prescribed medication or Botox injections. Botox injections have become a popular treatment method for ...

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Women's Health: Women, Headaches and Migraines - myfox8.com

Dr. Charles Mok Releases Innovative New Book on Women's Health Forbes NEW YORK (March 7, 2017) Physician and business leader Dr. Charles Mok today announced the publication of Testosterone: Strong Enough for a Man, Made for a Woman (available now). The book is published with ForbesBooks, the exclusive ... In the book ...

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Dr. Charles Mok Releases Innovative New Book on Women's Health - Forbes

FLORENCE -- The aging process takes a toll on the body, and knowing that helps individuals adjust to the new normal, doctors said.

Dr. Saquib Anjum, a geriatric and palliative care physician, said helping aging patients know what are typical changes to the body can help ease fear when the patient notices those changes.

"I see a lot of anxiety patients go through because of aging," Anjum said. "Aging is broadly predictable."

As life expectancy increases, it's important that the growing number of senior adults understand these body changes, Anjum said.

He said when patients notice changes he describes as typical of someone growing older, the first request is often a medication to reverse the change. However, Anjum said the best thing to do is to identify lifestyle changes to adjust to them.

Typical body changes related to aging include decreased heart rate from thickening of heart walls and slight enlargement of the heart muscle; an increase in blood pressure; a more noticeable decrease in blood pressure from standing or changing position; a less effective immune system; and loss of muscle mass.

Those changes, Anjum said, can manifest themselves like symptoms of a disease, but are typically just related to the normal aging process. A healthy diet and regular exercise are the best ways to stave off such changes, and to control the effects of them when they do occur.

"A lot of older patients are on multiple medications and will go through multiple rounds of medications trying to find one that works," Anjum said. "These are just things that happen as you age."

Anjum noted that as people reach geriatric status, kidney function can decrease. He said that's especially important for patients who are cycling through medications trying to find one that "fixes" their symptoms.

"When kidneys don't functions as well, drugs stay in your system longer," he said. "That increases the risk of side effects."

Dr. Robert Webb said there are several "syndromes" that occur in older patients that people need to be aware of as they age.

Disruption of the sleep cycle is a frequent complaint from senior patients, Webb said. He said older patients often have a harder time falling asleep; wake more often during the night; and experience restlessness during sleep more often.

He said 50 percent of seniors use some sort of prescription medication for sleep, and 30 percent have a chronic problem with sleep.

He recommends lifestyle changes, such as eating large meals earlier, taking medications that can disrupt sleep earlier in the day, and taking melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

"Melatonin is very helpful for seniors," he said. "It helps reset your sleep/wake cycle."

Falling is another common risk for seniors that can be managed to a degree, Webb said. He said certain types of medications, such as antidepressants, benzodiazapines and anti-inflammatory drugs, can increase falls for older patients.

He recommended increased strength exercises, and physical and occupational therapy for better balance and mobility. He said correcting environmental factors can reduce the risk of falls.

"You don't want throw rugs," he said. "What happens when you have throw rugs? That increases the risk of catching your foot on the rug and falling."

It is often medications, Webb said, and the side effects of those medications that cause complaints from older patients.

"All senior symptoms are drug side effects until proven otherwise," Webb said.

Read this article:
Doctors talk aging: What's normal, how to manage it - Times Daily

The doctors and nurses told Jarrod and Jillian Johnson that their newborns case wasnot that unusual.

Landon Johnson had been trying to breast-feed almost continuously since his birth days earlier and screaming each time his mother pulled him from her chest.Just stick with it, the first-time parents were told; it will take some time to get the hang of breast-feeding.

But hours afterthe Johnsons took their sonhome from the hospital, Jillian found him unresponsive.

His skin was blue and, she said, when she picked him up, his body felllimp in her arms.

Jarrod started CPR.

Jillian dialed 911.

Landon was rushed to an emergency room.

But it wasnotuntil days after their newborn had stopped breathing after his medical team wasunable to resuscitatehim and after he was put on life support that Jillian Johnson said she and her husband learned what might have happened to him. A doctor in a neonatal intensive care unit told them he suspected Landon was so severely dehydrated that his heart had stopped beating, she said.

It was really hard for me to comprehend at that point, because I had beenbreast-feeding him What do you mean he was dehydrated? Jillian Johnson said she told the doctor in February 2012. I couldnt wrap my head around it.I was frustrated with myself because, there were these doctors and nurses who kept telling me, Just keep feeding him. Just keep him on the breast. Youve got a great latch. Youre doing fine.

But she had no breast milk to offer him, she said.

Just 19days after Landon was born, his parents made a heart-wrenching decision to remove himfrom the machines that were keeping him alive.

Then they watched their baby die.

Five years later, Jillian Johnson is speaking out about her sons death, warning other mothers about breast-feeding in a blog post that has gone viral.

Althoughbreast-feeding is considered the ideal wayto feed ababy, she said, women should understand the risks such as not being able to produce enough milk and realize that there is nothing wrong with using formula in bottles.

I want people to stop shaming each other, Johnson told The Washington Post. Regardless of how you feed your baby, just make sure theyre fed. Its plain and simple.

I want people to educate themselves, she said. You want to do whats best for your kid? Fine. Breast is best, sure as long as the baby is getting something out of it.

Landon died ofhypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation;cardiac arrest; andhypernatremic dehydration, according to records from the Los Angeles County coroner.

Johnson, who lives in the Los Angeles area, declined to name the hospital where he was born or release any records.

[Doctor says: When it comes to breastfeeding, your health and happiness matter as much as your babys]

Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, aphysician and co-founder of Fed is Best Foundation, said she has studied Landonsmedical records. Castillo-Hegyi, whose nonprofit foundation focuses oninfant feeding,noted that the boy was born Feb. 25, 2012, by emergency C-section because he was not getting enough oxygen during labor.

At birth, he weighed 7 poundsand 7 ounces but, by day three, he had lost9.7 percent of his weight, she said.

Johnson described the ordeal late last month in a post on theFed is Best Foundations blog:

Landon cried. And cried. All the time. He cried unless he was on the breast and I began to nurse him continuously. The nurses would come in and swaddle him in warm blankets to help get him to sleep. And when I asked them why he was always on my breast, I was told it was because he was cluster feeding. I recalled learning all about that in the classes I had taken, and being a first time mom, I trusted my doctors and nurses to help me through this even more so since I was pretty heavily medicated from my emergency c-section and this was my first baby. But I was wrong.

Johnson wrote thatalactation consultant told her Landon had a great latch and was doing fine but noted that she may have a problem producing milk because she had been diagnosed with a hormonal disorder calledpolycystic ovarian syndrome.

The consultant told her to take herbal supplements, she said.

The Johnsons took Landon home on Feb. 28, 2012. Early the next morning, on Leap Day, they found him unresponsive.

We were both crying, But to watch your husband he was squeezing me so hard it hurt, but I couldnt pull myself away from him because he was bawling and praying that God would bring his baby back to him,Jillian Johnson said in an interview, sobbing.

No one at the baby-friendly hospital where Landon was born told her this could happen, she said.

In the United States, more than 400 suchhospitals believe that human milk fed through the mothers own breast is the normal way for human infants to be nourished, according to Baby Friendly USA, an organization that implements the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiativeby theWorld Health Organization and the United Nations Childrens Fund.

Baby Friendly USA Executive Director Trish MacEnroesaid the organizationexpects designatedhospitals tohelpmothers bond with babies and care for them, whichincludes exclusively breast-feeding. When mothers waver,she said, hospitals shouldtry to identify the obstacles and help mothers overcome them.

But, she said, its ultimately the mothers decision.

Regarding the case of Landon Johnson, MacEnroe said it was indeed tragic but added, I think its really important for mothers to know that breast-feeding is safe,and it is the optimal means for infant nutrition.

Because Johnson would not identity the hospital where Landon was born, MacEnroe said she did not know whether it was a baby-friendly hospital.

[Why I breastfed my son until he was 3]

Medical experts say starvation caused by breast-feeding is extremely rare; in fact,theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies exclusively breast-feed for the first six months, for a variety of reasons.

General pediatrician Andy Bernstein,a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, saidhumans are hard-wired to go several days without fullyfeeding.Typically, experts say, newborns can subsist thosefirst days on their mothers first milk, known ascolostrum, until their mothers mature milk comes in.

Bernstein said most pediatricians agree it is acceptable for newborns to lose up to 10 percent of their birth weight during this transition. But, he added, physicians must also consider any factors that could put mothers and babies at risk, such as being a first-time mother; having a long, complicated delivery or a C-section; or suffering from certain health issues, including some hormone disorders.

Im definitely going to encourage breast-feeding when possible, Bernstein said. We easily get the majority of our patients breast-feeding, but there is still a significant number of patients who, for a variety of issues, breast-feeding just doesnt work out. As gung-ho as we are about breast-feeding in 2017, I think it has to be done carefully.

Still, he said, formula is very acceptable source, both alone or to supplement breast milk.

But much more common is the societal pressure some women say they feel to breast-feed.

In an op-edfor The Post last year, three psychiatrists wrote that although the benefits of breast-feeding are backed by science, the recommendations carry the force of a threat: If I dont breastfeed, my child is more likely to get sick; if I dont breastfeed, my child wont be as smart; if I dont breastfeed, Im not a good mother.

Heres what not enough people talk about: Just as new babies are vulnerable, so are their mothers. And a mothers mental health is crucial not just to her, but also to her baby. A depressed and anxious mother isnt able to provide the nurturing that her baby needs to develop and grow. And if that depression and anxiety is caused or worsened by the breastfeeding experience, breastfeeding isnt worth it.

Then theresthe physical pain some women say they endure to breast-feed their babies.

Johnson, Landons mother, said that during the three days she was constantly nursing her son, her breasts were sore and her nipples were raw and bleeding.

She was also hurting for her newborn; she felt that she was failing him, she said.

Despite the horror she lived through, Johnson said she is not against breast-feeding. She has given birth to two girls since Landons death and has breast-fed them both supplementing with formula.

I am not against breast-feeding; I am pro-breastfeeding, she said. Thats the one thing I dont appreciate is everyone saying I need to stop being anti-breastfeeding. I am not. Honestly, if I was anti-breastfeeding, my kid would probably be alive.

I had no idea he was starving, she added. Oh my God if Id known that, I would have given him a bottle.

Read more:

We had no hope: The amazing story of the baby born with his brain outside his skull

The incredible story of how a newborns cry may have helped save her mothers life

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She listened to her doctors and her baby died. Now she's warning others about breast-feeding. - Washington Post

Bone was recently found to be part of the endocrine system, which means it releases hormones into the blood. Now, a new study in Nature has found that Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) is among the hormones that bone secretes. The hormone can suppress appetite in mice, revealing a previously unknown type of appetite regulation that has possible weight loss applications.

We spoke with study author Stavroula Kousteni of Columbia University about the work.

ResearchGate: What was the motivation behind this study?

Stavroula Kousteni: Our interest was to examine whether bone, acting as an endocrine organ, could secrete hormones to regulate energy homeostasis, perhaps by regulating additional and yet unknown metabolic functions. Studies from our laboratory supported this notion, because they had shown that mice lacking 50 percent of their osteoblasts, cells that facilitate bone formation, had an increase in appetite. So, we initiated a search for a protein secreted by osteoblasts that would regulate appetite.

RG: What did you find?

Kousteni: We found that Lipocalin 2 is released into the blood by osteoblasts, crosses the blood-brain barrier, binds to a receptor in the brains hypothalamus, and activates a signaling pathway that suppresses appetite.

After a meal, Lipocalin 2 levels in the serum of mice rapidly increase, and this increase is required for suppression of appetite after eating.

RG: Can you tell us about the significance of these results?

Kousteni: The finding broadens our understanding of how appetite is controlled and provides another tool for potentially translating these findings into the clinic.

Since the underlying mechanisms that regulate appetiteand the abnormal glucose metabolism and obesity associated with metabolic diseaseare not fully understood, the skeleton may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of these diseases.

RG: Do you think bone plays a similar role for humans?

Kousteni: I think that it most likely does. All hormones that have a function in rodents also have the same function in humans. For Lipocalin 2, we show that serum levels inversely correlate with body weight and the long-term blood sugar marker HbA1c in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Also, there is evidence in the literature that Lipocalin 2 serum levels increase in lean humans after a meal, just as we observed in mice. All these observations are indication of a similar type of regulation and function in humans.

RG: What applications could your findings have?

Kousteni: One of the key findings of this work was that exogenous Lipocalin 2 can supress appetite chronically in both lean and obese mice. This property, if reproduced in humans, can potentially find an application in weight loss treatment, since current appetite-regulating medications lose their suppressive effect with time.

RG: Whats next for your research?

Kousteni: We plan to generate a comprehensive picture of how bone regulates energy metabolism using Lipocalin 2. This approach will also reveal new signaling pathways and molecular targets that may find applications in the field of diabetes management. We would also like to understand the mechanism through which bone regulates Lipocalin 2 expression, and examine whether the pattern of regulation is conserved in humans.

Featured image ofOsteoblasts courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Hormone secreted by bones influences the appetite - ResearchGate - ResearchGate (blog)

Posted: 11:49 a.m. Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Texas Health Action says its clinic is partly a repudiation of the tone set at the Capitol.

The clinic hopes to offer a place transgender people can feel comfortable, community activists said.

As state lawmakers engage in a vitriolic debate about which bathrooms transgender people can use, a Central Texas nonprofit is opening the regions first transgender care clinic in Austin.

The nonprofit Kind Clinic, in a medical complex near 30th Street and Interstate 35, will provide free services such as hormone therapy specifically for people who are transgender, gender nonconforming or nonbinary. The services expand on the HIV-prevention work that the Texas Health Action nonprofit has been doing at the site since May 2015.

Joe McAdams, executive director of Texas Health Action, said the transgender-specific services were a logical extension of the organizations larger mission, a product of growing recognition of the LGBTQ communitys needs, and are intended as repudiation of the tone set at the Capitol.

Now is the time to be the antithesis of whats coming from the political side of the state, McAdams said. Thats why were leaning into this.

On Wednesday, Kelly Kline, a clinic patient and transgender rights advocate, talked quietly in one of the exam rooms with the clinic director, Cynthia Brinson, about her health. The topic quickly turned to the Capitol, where Kline testified Tuesday against Senate Bill 6, the so-called bathroom bill that would prohibit transgender-friendly bathroom, locker room and changing room policies in public schools, universities and in government buildings. The measure would also overturn city and county requirements for transgender bathrooms and prohibit cities and counties from withholding contracts based on a companys bathroom policy.

I had to use the bathroom (in the Capitol), and they gave me the ugliest looks, Kline said. She shrugged and added, I love my community, so I had to be there.

Later, she said of the clinic: I cant stress enough how important it is to walk into a place where we dont feel judged.

A Senate committee ultimately endorsed the bill early Wednesday, despite overwhelming testimony against it.

The Austin clinic, which begins offering its services Thursday, is intended partly to offer transgender people, particularly low-income ones, a place they can feel comfortable seeking medical services, managers and community activists said.

Competent and knowledgeable medical care is extremely important, and extremely hard to find in Texas for transgender people, said Meghan Stabler, a transgender board member of the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates on various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues.

Stabler said the standard medical path is often unavailable to low-income people who dont identify with their birth sex. Patients often need counseling on gender identification, referrals to medical specialists when seeking hormone therapy, periodic checkups to ensure the hormones are working properly, and sometimes surgery.

The alternative, Stabler said, can be black-market distributors for hormones and reliance on a medically unsupervised, often criminal enterprise, which puts them at greater risk.

If you dont have a good job, you may not have access to good health insurance, and you may not have been able to go to an endocrinologist, Stabler said. I think this clinic is important for people who need advice, who need care, and who ultimately need hormones.

The Austin clinic, which Stabler said was similar to one in Houston, opened in 2015 primarily to reduce HIV transmission among LGBTQ communities by, among other measures, prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV transmission. The clinic helps patients afford medication partly through donations, partly through a complicated federal process that, boiled down, amounts to patients with insurance subsidizing some of the cost of providing the medication to uninsured patients, McAdams said.

The HIV medication costs an insurer about $1,500 a month, while HIV treatment drugs can cost about double that, he said.

The clinic now has 800 patients, he said. It is, he added, the fastest-growing PrEP clinic in the country.

Brinson often answers charges that the clinic is encouraging unsafe sex by replying, Well, people are already having condomless sex, so lets take care of their needs as we can.

Read the original here:
First clinic specifically serving transgender needs opens in Austin - MyStatesman.com

Robert Clayton Robbins, head of the Texas Medical Center, was named Tuesday as top choice for president of the University of Arizona.

The Board of Regents selected Robbins in Phoenix following interviews with him and one other candidate Monday.

Robbins will meet the campus community and the public at a forum Wednesday afternoon. The regents will vote next week formally to make him an offer, and contract negotiations will begin. A final vote on the contract is expected April 6, based on a timeline the regents released last week.

Robbins, who serves as president and chief executive officer at the Texas Medical Center, said at a press conference Tuesday he was eager to get on the road to Tucson. He said his top priority will be the UA's students.

"I look forward to meeting them, working with them, and helping them be prepared for this new world that were living in now," he said. "Its changing rapidly, and as the university family weve got to treat each one of them like our own children and help them be prepared for not just the four years they spend on campus, but the next 40 years of their life."

The announcement was delayed by more than an hour late Tuesday afternoon as members of the Board of Regents met privately to select their top candidate. Regent Bill Ridenour, who headed the search committee, said the delay was not a sign of disagreement.

"We just wanted to be very thorough," Ridenour said. "When you get nine people in a room that have differing thoughts, you want to make sure that you give those people every opportunity because its important, we think, that we be unanimous. So we are, and we are, and were excited."

Robbins is a cardiac surgeon who joined the Texas Medical Center as its president and CEO in 2012. In that time, he introduced five research initiatives centered on innovation, genomics, regenerative medicine, health policy and clinical research. The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical complex in the world, a press release said.

Dr. Robbins comprehensive experience as both a visionary leader and highly-respected physician, as well as his evident talent for advancing research, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development will serve the University of Arizona and our state well, regents' President Eileen Klein said in a press release.

As a surgeon, Robbins has focused on acquired cardiac diseases with a special expertise in the surgical treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiothoracic transplantation. His research work includes the investigation of stem cells for cardiac regeneration.

The other finalist was Sethuraman Panch Panchanathan, executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State University.

Current UA President Ann Weaver Hart will step down after her successor is chosen. Hart will take a one-year sabbatical leave and return to the UA as a professor in the College of Education.

She became the university's first female president in 2012 and announced last year she would not seek renewal of her contract in 2018.

Original post:
Robert Clayton Robbins Top Choice for UA President - Arizona Public Media

VAIL, Colo. In 1988, George Gillett, who then owned what has become Vail Resorts, persuaded Dr. Richard Steadman to relocate his medical practice from Lake Tahoe to Vail. The Steadman Clinic soon became the go-to-place for athletes with knee and other joint problems.

It still is. Football quarterback Tom Brady has been there, soccer icon Pele and basketball power Yao Ming. Plus John Elway, Mario Lemieux, and Alex Rodriguez. Big names from the ski world, obviously. But also the drummer for the rock band U2, Larry Mullen, Jr.

Now, the clinic will be getting a new, 2,415-square-metre research lab courtesy of the Vail Valley Medical Center. The US$68 million facility will house the Steadman Philippon Research Institute's labs for surgical skills, robotics, regenerative medicine, and bio-motion. The clinic and associated research institute together employ 190 people.

Research being conducted there is getting attention. A recent report in The Denver Post by staff writer John Meyer suggests you may have a stake in the work at the base of Vail Mountain. The story focused on the work of Dr. Johnny Huard, the chief scientific officer and director of the Center for Regenerative Sports Medicine.

Huard is trying to advance the techniques that allow people to heal more rapidly. The field is called biologics. Cells from the patient's own body are used in concentrated injections to hasten repair of tissue at the site of the injury.

Stem cells and platelet-rich plasma therapy will someday delay age-related diseases and cut the recovery time from serious injuries.

"I don't think we can reverse aging, but I think we can age better and recover from injury better," said Dr. Marc Philippon, managing partner of the Steadman Clinic.

"As a surgeon, my biggest challenge is, if I cut on you there's always that healing phase. We want you to recover faster. But the most important thing is prevention of injury. If your cells are aging better, you'll have less injury."

Before moving to Vail two years ago, Huard directed the Stem Cell Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. In Vail, the researchers think injections of stem cells and PRP can help delay or prevent the need for joint replacements. At the adjacent Steadman Clinic, they can test the theories in clinical trials. Animal studies have already shown that young stem cells can rejuvenate old stem cells.

Huard advocates passionately harvesting stem cells from the umbilical cord of a newborn, freezing them at -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 C). Those cells can later be thawed and reintroduced into the body as younger and more robust stem cells than the ones that have aged in the patient.

An athlete who blows out an anterior cruciate ligament in training camp currently loses a full year. Being able to return to play sooner could dramatically change the recovery time for injuries.

As good as dead, skier survives a heart attack

JACKSON, Wyo. Imagine having a heart-attack in the backcountry. Just what do you think your odds are?

Mike Connolly, 61, was skiing on a ridge of Maverick Peak, in Grand Teton National Park, when he reported chest pains. Because they had cell phones, members of his party were able to summon help. A helicopter with three members of the Teton County Search and Rescue was dispatched.

At the scene, Connolly went into cardiac arrest. He ceased breathing and he had no pulse. Members of his group began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Then rescuers arrived with an automated defibrillator. They shocked Connolly once, and he regained a pulse and began breathing again. A short time later, he was able to verbally communicate with those around him.

Uber drivers now ply roads

JACKSON, Wyo. Because of new state legislation, Uber and Lyft are now allowed to operate in Wyoming. Uber took just hours after the bill was signed before opening its car doors for business in Jackson Hole, reported the News&Guide.

Uber drivers must have valid licences, registration, proof of insurance, and a passing grade on an online safety screening. Uber allows drivers to use their own cars or commercially licensed vehicles.

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Mountain News: Clinic advances stem-cell research - Pique Newsmagazine

An adult stem cell center established by the Kansas Legislature in 2013 is almost ready for its first clinical trial.

Buddhadeb Dawn, executive director of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, told legislators Tuesday that the trial will focus on treating graft-versus-host disease and will begin after final approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Our goal was to do this (trial) in January, but we got delayed because of different things, Dawn said during a hearing of the House Health and Human Services Committee. So we are now hoping to start it perhaps in summer.

Based at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, the stem cell center has analyzed trials done elsewhere and hosted a clinical trial sponsored by a biotech company that uses modified stem cells from bone marrow to treat stroke.

But the graft-versus-host disease trial would be the first homegrown one.

Download the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center annual update to legislators.

Graft-versus-host disease is a potential complication when a patient receives a transplant of tissue, like an organ or bone marrow, from another person.

The disease occurs when transplanted tissue fights the patients natural immune system, potentially damaging the liver, skin or other areas. Its a rare illness, with about 20,000 cases in the United States each year.

Rep. Randy Powell, a Republican from Olathe, said the trial was a welcome and exciting development. He said his wife is at risk for the illness following treatment for leukemia.

I know that graft-versus-host is a big thing, Powell said. I think my wife still has an annual checkup where they keep their eye out (to make sure) thats not sticking its head up and causing issues.

Dawn said the center would like to take the next step and move into clinical trials using adult stem cells to treat things like joint ailments, diabetes and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

But the regulatory process takes time.

Wed like to be able to offer a portfolio of different disease conditions that adult stem cells can benefit, Dawn said. Im hoping that within the next five years we would at least have some FDA approval for treatment with adult stem cells for other conditions.

Dawn said successful trials could lead to more private investment dollars so we are self-sustaining at some point in the future.

The centers reliance on state funds has been a point of contention for fiscally conservative legislators in the past. Most of the facilitys budget still comes from the states payment, which was reduced by about $28,000 to $754,500 last year.

Were maximizing every opportunity we can with what we have right now.

Thats far less than what stem cell research facilities in other states receive.

Doug Girod, executive vice president of the KU medical center, said that given the budget, Dawn and his small team have done remarkable work.

We could be 10 times bigger than we are and doing 10 times as much if we had the resources, Girod said. But I think were maximizing every opportunity we can with what we have right now.

The center was spearheaded by socially conservative legislators, including Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, to showcase adult stem cell research as an alternative to using stem cells derived from human embryos.

About $56,000 of its annual budget goes to educating the public about the differences between embryonic stem cells and adult cells and hosting an annual conference about advances in adult stem cell treatment.

Rep. John Wilson, a Democrat from Lawrence, said he initially was skeptical about the facility because he thought the Legislature was inserting itself into a religious or philosophical fight. But he said his attitude has changed.

Im glad that despite my opposition to it the state has gone forward with funding some really terrific research, Wilson said. My concern now is how do we take it to the next level so all of this hasnt been for nothing.

Andy Marso is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter@andymarso. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

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Kansas Stem Cell Center Close To First Clinical Trial - KCUR

March 8, 2017 by Thomas Bartosh, The Conversation Cancer cells, in red, cannibalize a type of stem cell, shown in green. The red cells with small specks of green are breast cancer cells that have eaten the stem cell.

Breast cancer death rates overall have steadily declined since 1989, leading to an increased number of survivors. But while breast cancer survivors are grateful their bodies show no trace of the disease, they still face anxiety. Breast cancer can and does return, sometimes with a vengeance, even after being in remission for several years.

By studying the "cannabilistic" tendency of cancer cells, my research team has made some progress in finding out why.

The chances of recurrence and disease outcome vary with cancer subtype. About one-third of patients diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive subtype, may experience a recurrence in another part of the body. This is called distant recurrence.

It has been difficult, if not impossible, to predict if and when the same cancer will recur and to stop it. Recurrent disease may arise from just a single cancer cell that survived the initial treatment and became dormant. The dormancy allowed it to hide somewhere in the body, not growing or causing harm for an unpredictable amount of time.

Determining what puts these dormant cells to "sleep" and what provokes them to "wake up" and begin multiplying uncontrollably could lead to important new treatments to prevent a demoralizing secondary cancer diagnosis.

Recently, my research team and I uncovered several clues that might explain what triggers these breast cancer cells to go dormant and then "reawaken." We showed that cell cannibalism is linked to dormancy.

How do bone stem cells affect breast cancer?

Breast cancer can recur in the breast or in other organs, such as the lungs and bone. Where breast cancer decides to grow depends largely on the microenvironment. This refers to the cells that surround it, including immune cells, cells comprising blood vessels, fibroblasts and the select proteins they produce, among other factors.

Over a century ago, a surgeon named Stephen Paget famously compared the organ-specific prevalence of cancer metastasis to seeds and soil. Because breast cancer often relapses in bones, in this metaphor, which still holds forth today, the bone marrow provides a favorable microenvironment (the "soil") for dormant breast cancer cells (the "seeds") to thrive.

Thus, a substantial amount of recent work has involved trying to determine the role in cancer dormancy of a special type of cell, called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These are found in bone marrow.

MSCs in bone marrow are highly versatile. They are able to form bone, cartilage and fibrous tissue, as well as cells that support the immune system and formation of blood. They are also known to travel to sites of tissue injury and inflammation, where they aid in healing.

Breast cancer cells readily interact with MSCs if they meet in the bone marrow. They also readily interact if the breast cancer cells recruit them to the site of the primary tumor.

My research team and I recently focused on potential outcomes of these cellular interactions. We found an odd thing happens, which may provide insight into how these breast cancer cells hide for a long time.

In the laboratory setting, we produced breast tumor models containing MSCs. We also re-created the hostile conditions that naturally challenge developing tumors in patients, such as localized nutrient deficits caused by rapid growth of cancer cells and overcrowding.

We discovered that cancer cells under this duress become dormant after eating, or "cannibalizing," the stem cells.

Our analysis provided compelling data demonstrating that the cannibalistic breast cancer cells did not form tumors as rapidly as other cancer cells, and sometimes not at all. At the same time, they became highly resistant to chemotherapy and stresses imposed by nutrient deprivation.

Dormant cells are widely linked to recurrence. We hypothesize that cannibalism thus is linked to recurrence.

What is cellular cannibalism, and why is it important in cancer?

Cellular cannibalism, in general, describes a distinct phenomenon in which one cell engulfs and eliminates neighboring, intact cells.

The percentage of cancer cells that show cannibalistic activity is relatively low, but it does appear to increase in more aggressive tumors.

There are several reasons breast cancer cells would want to eat other cells, including other cancer cells. It provides them with a way to feed when nutrients are in short supply. It also provides them a way to eliminate the very immune cells that naturally stop cancer growth. Cell cannibalism might also allow cancer cells to inherit new genetic information and, therefore, new and advantageous traits.

Notably, in our study, cannibalistic breast cancer cells that ate the stem cells and entered dormancy began to produce an array of specific proteins. Many of these proteins are also secreted by normal cells that have permanently stopped dividing, or senescent cells, and have been collectively termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (or SASP). Although cellular senescence is a part of aging, we are now realizing that it is also important for a variety of normal bodily processes, development of embryos and injury repair in adults.

This suggests that although dormant cancer cells do not multiply rapidly or form detectable tumors, they are not necessarily sleeping. Instead, at times they might be actively communicating with each other and their microenvironment through the numerous proteins they manufacture.

Overall, this might be a clever way for dormant cancer cells to "fly under the radar" and, at the same time, modify their microenvironment, making it more suitable for them to grow in the future.

Can cell cannibalism be exploited for diagnosis and treatment?

Although our results are promising, it's important to be cautious. While there appears to be a strong correlation between cell cannibalism and dormancy, for now we do not know if it is directly linked to cancer recurrence in patients. Studies are underway, however, to corroborate our findings.

Still, the fact that breast cancer cells cannibalize MSCs is intriguing. It provides an important foundation for developing new diagnostic tools and therapies. Indeed, we currently have several ways of applying our recent discoveries.

One exciting idea is to exploit the cannibalistic activity of cancer cells to feed them suicide genes or other toxic agents, using MSCs as a delivery vehicle, like a tumor-seeking missile.

Importantly, MSCs can be easily obtained from the body, expanded to large numbers in the laboratory, and put back into the patient. Indeed, they have already been used safely in clinical trials to treat a variety of diseases due to their ability to aid in tissue repair and regeneration.

A different avenue for drug development would involve keeping dormant cells in a harmless and nondividing state forever. It might also be possible to prevent cancer cells from eating the stem cells in the first place.

In our study, we were able to block cell cannibalism using a drug that targets a specific protein inside cancer cells. With this treatment approach, the cancer might essentially starve to death or be more easily killed by conventional therapies.

Explore further: A possible explanation for recurring breast cancer

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

In October, we mourned those who died of breast cancer and celebrated all of the women (and men) who have survived. What many of those survivors worry about, though, is that their breast cancer may come back. It has puzzled ...

Researchers from Mayo Clinic have quantified the numbers of various types of immune cells associated with the risk of developing breast cancer. The findings are published in a study in Clinical Cancer Research.

To understand what makes breast cancer spread, researchers are looking at where it lives - not just its original home in the breast but its new home where it settles in other organs. What's happening in that metastatic niche ...

New research explains how metastatic breast cancer cells might use bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to help them spread to bone tissue. A study using a 3D scaffold model has shown that breast tumor-derived ...

Scientists from the United States have made an important step toward eliminating cancer recurrence by combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy. Specifically, they found that chemotherapy alone leads to two types of dormant ...

A new study has identified a mechanism used by tumors to recruit stem cells from bone and convert them into cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) that facilitate tumor progression. This work, which pinpoints the specific biochemical ...

For all the success of a new generation of immunotherapies for cancer, they often leave an entire branch of the immune system's disease-fighting forces untapped. Such therapies act on the adaptive immune system, the ranks ...

Research findings that first had scientists scratching their heads have turned out to be "quite revolutionary," according to study leaders at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that an experimental drug, LCL161, stimulates the immune system, leading to tumor shrinkage in patients affected by multiple myeloma. The findings are published in Nature Medicine.

Doctors may soon be able to detect and monitor a patient's cancer with a simple blood test, reducing or eliminating the need for more invasive procedures, according to Purdue University research.

Two key proteins involved in male breast cancer have been identified by University of Leeds scientists, potentially paving the way for more effective treatments.

A protein has been found to have a previously unknown role in the ageing of cells, according to an early study by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). The researchers hope that the findings could one day lead to new treatments ...

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How 'cannibalism' by breast cancer cells promotes dormancy: A ... - Medical Xpress

One of the current challenges for stem cell researchers is to understand how all the skin appendages are regenerated. This could lead to improved treatments for burn patients, or others with severe skin damage.

Researchers are also working to identify new ways to grow skin cells in the lab. Epidermal stem cells are currently cultivated on a layer of cells from rodents, called murine cells. These cell culture conditions have been proved safe, but it would be preferable to avoid using animal products when cultivating cells that will be transplanted into patients. So, researchers are searching for effective cell culture conditions that will not require the use of murine cells.

Scientists are also working to treat genetic diseases affecting the skin. Since skin stem cells can be cultivated in laboratories, researchers can genetically modify the cells, for example by inserting a missing gene. The correctly modified cells can be selected, grown and multiplied in the lab, then transplanted back onto the patient. Epidermolysis Bullosa is one example of a genetic skin disease that might benefit from this approach. Work is underway to test the technique.

Read more:
Skin stem cells: where do they live and what can they do? | Eurostemcell

The StemCutis Synergy Collection features Synergy EssenceTM, Synergy CreamTM and Synergy PatchesTM and is available for purchase at https://www.stemcutis.com/collections/all.

SYNERGY ESSENCE

For smoother, brighter, healthier looking skin, the Synergy Essence is a potent serum of proprietary stem cell factors encapsulated in a nurturing fluid, plus nourishing vitamins and natural extracts. The Essence reduces the appearance of signs of aging and restores youthful glow.Use twice a day on face, neck and dcolletage areas after cleansing.

SYNERGY CREAM

The silky Synergy Cream can be used as a moisturizer for all skin types. These encapsulated stem cell factors in nurturing beads are combined with herbal ingredients to give skin a youthful, healthy glow. This unique formula provides a strong antioxidant defense for skin against the damaging effects of free radicals. Use twice a day on face, neck and hands alone or, for optimal results, after applying Synergy Essence.

SYNERGY PATCHES

For smoother, brighter and healthier looking skin, the StemCutis Synergy Patch is the only product available with the power of hyaluronic acid and StemCutis' proprietary stem cell factor crystals. Each patch is a crystal delivery system that drives the potent ingredients into the skin for maximum benefit. For greatest results, use twice a week on clean, dry skin in areas of fine lines such as crow's feet.

For more information and to purchase the products, please visit http://www.StemCutis.com.

About StemCutis, LLC

Founded in San Diego, California in 2014, StemCutis, LLC, a subsidiary of Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., is a global biotechnology company that develops stem cell-based dermatological therapies and over-the-counter (OTC) skin care products for dermatological applications. StemCutis therapies are based on the unique, proprietary technologies for the expansion of cells under hypoxic conditions, which provides critical benefits for safety, efficacy, scalability, and standardization. StemCutis has exclusive, worldwide licenses and rights from Stemedica and other Stemedica-related companies to develop and market the products for a range of conditions that affect skin and tissue appearance and function, such as compromised skin, hair loss, burns and hypertrophic, atrophic, and keloid scars, etc. For more information, visit http://www.stemcutis.com.

About Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc.

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that manufactures best-in-class, allogeneic, adult stem cells and stem cell-derived factors. The company is a government-licensed manufacturer of cGMP, clinical-grade stem cells currently used in clinical trials in the United States under FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) approval for chronic heart failure, ischemic stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Stemedica's products are also used by research institutions and hospitals outside of US under the auspices of international regulatory authorities for pre-clinical and clinical (human) trials. Stemedica is developing clinical trials for other indications using its adult, allogeneic stem cells. The company has headquarters in San Diego, California, and can be found online at http://www.stemedica.com.

All media inquiries:Jackie Townsend Konstanturos The Townsend Team Jackie@townsendteam.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-synergy-collection-by-stemcutis-rejuvenates-skin-and-repairs-signs-of-aging-300420071.html

SOURCE StemCutis, LLC

http://www.stemcutis.com

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New Synergy Collection By StemCutis Rejuvenates Skin And ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Pfizer, which scooped up Bamboo Therapeutics last year in its aim to be a major player in gene therapies, is now looking at building a gene therapy production facility in North Carolina where the biotech is based.

Pfizer spokeswoman Kimberly Becker confirmed a report by the Triangle Business Journal that the company has been exploring the area. The newspaper was told by sources that Pfizer has talked to state and local officials about a potential $100 million expansion project. Bamboo is based inChapel Hill.

We recently announced that were moving forward with scoping potential sites in Sanford for our new gene therapy site. This work is still in the preliminary stages and we arent able to share additional detail at this time, Becker said in an email.

The sources told the newspaper thatPfizer also is considering putting it in Massachusetts. The drugmakercurrently is erecting a $200 million biologics and vaccines production facility at its campus in Andover.

But Bamboo already has an 11,000-square foot, fully staffed and operational manufacturing facility in Sanford it acquired last year from the University of North Carolina about the time that Pfizer made an initial investment in the company. Bamboo has produced phase I and II materials using a in the facility using what Pfizer said was superior suspension, cell-based production platform that increases scalability, efficiency and purity.

Pfizer last year bought Bamboo in two-step deal, laying out $193 million to acquire its stock, with a pledge of up to $495 million more in milestones. With gene therapies, genetic material is introduced into a patients body to replace gene mutations that cause disease.

The biotech is working on recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-based gene therapies for rare diseases. It has a pre-clinical asset for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD); and three targeted at the central nervous system, with pre-clinical assets for Friedreichs Ataxia and Canavan disease, and a Phase I asset for Giant Axonal Neuropathy, Pfizer said.

Pfizer first entered the emerging field in 2014 with a deal with Spark Therapeutics in hemophilia. At that time, the company also established a dedicated gene therapy research center in London known as the Genetic Medicines Institute which falls under its Rare Disease Research Unit.

While the field offers the hope of one-time cures by dealing with the genetic root cause of a disease, it offers challenges for insurance coverage and payments. There have been no gene therapies approved yet in the U.S., but Dutch company uniQure developed the firstgene therapy approved in Europe, a treatment thathas been termed the worlds most expensive drug.

Approved in 2012, Glybera is priced at more than $1.2 million. Only one German doctor has been able to win insurance approval, despite the fact the treatment can cure the ultra-rare disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency. uniQure is now focused on a hemophilia B program, competing with the gene therapy being developed by Spark Therapeutics with Pfizer.uniQure, which has had to eliminatejobs to cut costs, has a $25 million, 55,000-square-foot gene therapy manufacturing facility in Lexington, Massachusetts.

GlaxoSmithKline has also won approval in Europe for Strimvelis, its gene therapy for bubble boy disease. It is offering the one-time treatment at about $665,000, with a money-back guarantee.

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Pfizer looks at building major gene therapy manufacturing facility in ... - FiercePharma

The human heart has an innate capacity to remodel in response to advancing coronary artery disease. As plaque builds up in the hearts three major arteries, some genetically privileged patients begin to grow small collateral blood vessels to overcome restricted blood flow and improve cardiac perfusion. This process is known as cardiac angiogenesis. With the passage of time, this response is overrun by disease progression.

Researchers have long wondered if this primal angiogenic healing response could be amplified and regulated through the design and development of angiogenic therapeutics. In recent years, monoclonal antibody therapies have proven effective at harnessing the human bodys natural biological mechanisms to treat cancer. Similarly, within cardiac care, angiogenic gene therapy has shown great promise.

In the U.S., more than one million patients with advanced coronary artery disease suffer from recurrent and severe chest pain, which profoundly limits their physical activity and quality of life. These refractory angina patients are no longer responsive to anti-anginal medications and are either not candidates for stent implantation or bypass surgery, or continue to suffer from angina even after these mechanical revascularization procedures. While drug and proteins appear unsuitable, new research and clinical studies focused on angiogenic gene therapy are now showing great promise as a one-time treatment for more than one million patients in the U.S. with advanced coronary artery disease and refractory angina.

The successful commercialization of an angiogenic gene therapy will require (1) an angiogenic growth factor that regulates the multiple proteins required to orchestrate micro-vessel growth and enlargement; (2) a simple percutaneous catheter-based delivery system to deliver the angiogenic gene therapy into heart cells; and (3) a deep understanding and characterization of patients who are most likely to benefit from angiogenic gene therapy, enabling design of a clinical study properly powered to detect treatment effects and assess potential risk-benefit.

Choice of Angiogenic Growth Factor

One key element of successful gene therapy is gene expression in the targeted cells, at a functional level. For angiogenic gene therapy, a central challenge has been identifying the growth factors that can stimulate the complex angiogenic biological process. It has been debated and widely studied whether the delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or other growth factors, alone or in combination, is ideal for collateral vessel development. Recent research suggests a more fruitful approach may be the use of a specific regulatory gene, FGF-4, that is now known to activate VEGFs and the cascade of events required to stimulate cardiac angiogenesis. Using a regulatory gene is likely more practical than trying to determine which individual growth factor or growth factor combination is best suited for the job.

Simplified Catheter-Based Delivery Options

Even with firm understanding of the merits of individual angiogenic growth factors, a separate question remains: Which DNA delivery system is best suited for cardiovascular angiogenic gene therapy?

Advances have come with a key realization: the facilitation of coronary collateral formation requires a relatively short duration of gene expressiononly a few weeks. Vector systems that meet this requirement include plasmid constructs and adenovirus. So here was the next challenge: determining which of these two approaches was optimal. Plasmids are easy to manufacture and safe but have very low level and short duration of muscle transduction and could be delivered to the heart mainly through direct intramuscular injections. Adenoviral vectors, on the other hand, can be administered via the intravascular route and have been shown to achieve high transfection efficiency in heart muscle cells with transgene expression lasting for two to six weeks. The relatively short duration of growth factor gene expression by the adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vector has proved sufficient for the building of new functional biological structures such as coronary collateral vessels.

Studies have demonstrated that fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4) can promote the growth of existing or new collateral vessels in the heart, when delivered as a gene within an Ad5 vector. The resulting molecular packagenamed Ad5FGF-4is delivered into the heart as a one-time treatment during a standard angiogram-like procedure. The biologic is delivered in front of a balloon that briefly blocks blood flow, allowing the treatment to more easily leave the blood vessel and enter the cardiac muscle. FGF-4 gene expression promotes the development of new collateral vessels and the enlargement of existing collateral vessels in ischemic areas of the heart, to increase blood flow to these oxygen-starved regions.

Effective Clinical Study Design

An additional hindrance to historical progress in cardiovascular gene therapy may have involved study design. The standard endpoint used in most cardiovascular therapeutic angiogenesis studiese.g., exercise tolerance testing (ETT)is based on decades of experience with clinical development of small molecule anti-anginal drugs, and is still considered by regulatory authorities to be a relevant indicator of clinical effectiveness. In general, clinically significant improvements in ETT time resulting from mechanical revascularization (bypass surgery and stents), pharmacologic interventions or gene therapy, represent improved functional capacity for treated patients. ETT is known to be subject to placebo effect, and therefore careful study design, including well-defined patient inclusion criteria (e.g. limited baseline ETT capacity) and controlled testing conditions and criteria are essential for meaningful outcomes.

An attempt to fuse the insights and overcome the roadblocks summarized above are fueling ongoing efforts to improve and advance angiogenic gene therapy. Future studies are likely to elucidate the most promising therapies for cardiovascular angiogenic gene therapy and offer hope to the many patients for whom angina is currently a source of deep concern causing significant negative impact on quality of life.

Christopher J. Reinhard is Chief Executive Officer of Angionetics Inc., a company focused on the late-stage clinical development and commercialization of Generx, an angiogenic gene therapy product candidate designed for medical revascularization for the potential treatment of patients with myocardial ischemia and refractory angina due to advanced coronary artery disease.

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Angiogenic Gene Therapy for the Heart: Overcoming the Roadblocks - Drug Discovery & Development

On the occasion of International Womens Day, Bourn Hall Fertility Centre, Dubai, is offering all women in the UAE a chance to get a free fertility health check throughout March at their clinic in Jumeirah. The fertility check would include a free AMH, FSH and LH hormone blood tests to assess a females ovarian reserve and help determine her fertility potential.

The free screening will be particularly beneficial to women under the age of 38 years who are considering delaying pregnancy, and those with a family history of ovarian failure, autoimmune disease, chemotherapy or previous surgery to the ovaries.

However, it will be equally helpful to all women - married or unmarried, those planning to have a family or not to give them an idea of their child-bearing abilities. Depending on the results, one can choose to have egg-freezing as an option, or can start a family earlier than planned.

The egg quantity and quality declines with age - beginning in the early 30s and faster in the late 30s and early 40s. A healthy, fertile 30-year-old woman has about a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month. By the time she reaches the age of 40, her chances are less than 5% per month and this is usually due to the decrease in the number and quality of eggs. As a woman ages, so do her eggs and the internal structures of the egg become more debilitated and is less likely to thrive. Therefore, women with low ovarian reserve have diminished fertility and an increased risk of miscarriage, said Dr Shazia Magray, Specialist OBGYN at Bourn Hall Fertility Centre.

As per a news report released last year, around 50 percent of the women in UAE face infertility issues, which is on the rise.

Dr. Shazia added: As a precaution, it is important that women take stock of their fertility health, so that they can make informed decisions on when to start a family and related treatment can be sought earlier than later. With increasing age, achieving a viable and healthy pregnancy does become a big challenge and can lead to chromosomal abnormalities leading to birth of children with genetic diseases. It appears that the best eggs are ovulated first and the low quality, genetically imbalanced ones are released in later years so there is always merit in starting family early on.

Bourn Hall Fertility Centre is an active campaigner, imparting education on fertility issues in both men and women. Besides organizing free screening, the Centre conducts regular seminars and talks, encouraging people to assess their fertility health and take timely measures to avoid complications later.

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Dubai clinic offering free fertility tests for women throughout March ... - Emirates 24|7

Posted: 10:35 a.m., March 7, 2017

The Mediterranean diet -- one heavy on veggies, nuts and fruit, with limits on meat and dairy -- is the way to go. Study after study has shown it is the key to help you live longer and puts you at a lower risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The Mediterranean diet -- one heavy on veggies, nuts and fruit, with limits on meat and dairy -- is the way to go. Study after study has shown it is the key to help you live longer and puts you at a lower risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

(CNN) A study published in the International Journal of Cancer on Monday suggests that the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer, a postmenopausal form of the disease with a poor prognosis.

The study, which was conducted in the Netherlands, followed 62,573 women ages 55 to 69 who tracked their diets for more than 20 years starting in 1986 as part of a cohort study. During the study, 3,354 participants developed breast cancer. After excluding cases based on a history of cancer or incomplete dietary data, research analyzed 2,321 breast cancer cases.

The researchers found that post-menopausal estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer was 40% less prevalent in those who adhered closely to the Mediterranean diet.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating mostly plant-based foods, such as fruits, legumes, unrefined grains and olive oil, as well as fish. Traditionally, the diet allows for small amounts of wine consumption, but because there is a known link between alcohol and breast cancer, it was excluded from this study.

Many interpretations of the diet have been developed, but for this study, following the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet strictly was key.

In the past, research has shown the Mediterranean diet is a key to longer lives, stronger bones and lower risk of cardiovascular disease and even other cancer.

Diet is a significant factor in preventing breast cancer as it is one of the most modifiable lifestyle changes that women can undertake to prevent breast cancer, said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, a professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. The plant and vegetable based diet with fish and monosaturated fat are key components of this diet and have a positive impact in lowering breast cancer incidence.

Some breast cancer cells have receptors that are sensitive to the bodys naturally occurring hormones. Receptor positive breast cancers are often responsive to hormone treatments. Receptive-negative cancers are not, which leaves patients with fewer options for treatment.

I was most impressed by the significant reduction in the receptor negative breast cancer with adherence to the Mediterranean diet, Pruthi said. This study is an important contribution to the efforts being studied to prevent (estrogen-receptor, progesterone-receptor)-negative breast cancer which is known to be more aggressive and higher risk of recurrence.

She noted that more than 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the US. Prevention studies are very important in potentially reducing the number of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the US annually.

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Mediterranean diet linked to lower risk of breast cancer type, study says - WGNO

How is hypopituitarism treated?

Your doctor will treat the condition that is the cause of your hypopituitarism first. This can help restore your pituitary glands ability to produce hormones.

If a tumor on your pituitary gland is causing your hypopituitarim, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove it or radiation therapy to shrink it.

If your body does not produce enough of one or more pituitary hormones after treating the underlying condition, your doctor may prescribe a hormone replacement medicine to add to your bodys hormone production.

Hormone replacement medicines include:

If you are taking hormone replacement medicine, your doctor may want to monitor the levels of hormones in your blood to make sure youre getting the right amount of replacement hormones.

If you become very sick (such as with the flu) or go through a stressful time, your doctor may adjust the dose of replacement hormone you take to act the way a normally functioning pituitary gland would act in response to these situations. You might also need a dose adjustment if you become pregnant or have a significant change in weight.

You should carry a medical alert card and bracelet at all times so that emergency medical workers know what kind of care you need in case of emergency.

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Hypopituitarism - familydoctor.org

MMAjunkie.com

USADA notifies Ben Rothwell of potential anti-doping violation, putting UFC 211 status in jeopardy MMAjunkie.com Doctors told me TRT was something that could stop the hypogonadism from degrading my body, he wrote in a statement to MMAjunkie at the time. I am not going to fight the suspension as I feel ultimately it is my responsibility to make sure I stay ... and more »

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USADA notifies Ben Rothwell of potential anti-doping violation, putting UFC 211 status in jeopardy - MMAjunkie.com

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TiGenix has receivedpositive feedback from the FDA on an improved global phase III trial protocol for its lead candidateCx601 for Crohns disease. This is expected tospeed up US approval.

TiGenix is a Belgian companydevelopingstem cell therapies. The biotech is currently pushing its lead candidateCx601to the market for the treatment ofcomplex perianal fistulas in Crohns disease patients. Cx601 recently revealedpositive resultsin a European phase III study.

Following these results, the company submitted a number of technical adjustments for itspivotal phase III study for Biologics License Application (BLA) in the US, which were now approved by the FDA and are expected to acceleratethe process to US marketing authorization.

TiGenix is wellknown for its productChondroCellect, which was the first cell therapyto reach approval on the European market for the repair of knee cartilage.After the companyrecently withdrew its market authorization for this product, due to a lack of reimbursement, the biotech is focusing on its new leadCx601.

Thisproduct, currently awaiting EMA approval, consists ofallogeneic expanded adipose-derived stem cells (eASC), which are indicated for the treatment ofperianal fistulas in Crohns disease. The therapeuticeffects of eASCs are based on immunomodulatory abilities of these stem cells, which canrestore immune balance by suppressing a variety of immune cell subsets and inducing the generation of regulatory T cells.

Areas of the colon commonly affected duringCrohns disease

The current approval from the FDA will allow TiGenix to file the BLAbased on the efficacy and safety follow-up of patients at week 24, instead of week 52.The FDA has also agreed to accept fewer patients than originally planned in the study and endorsed a broader target population that will ultimately facilitate the recruitment process.

We believe that this revised protocol will allow us to file for approval one year earlier than we had originally plannedconcludedMaria Pascual, VP Regulatory Affairs & Corporate Quality of TiGenix

The current amendments will allow TiGenix to push its therapyto the US market even faster, which might pivotal for the company in light of its financial situation. After its shares had reached a low of22 cents back in 2013, the share price is currently still under 1. Withits low 34M IPO on Nasdaq in the end of last year, its market cap is stillonly at 191M. A low sum for a late stage clinical company.

As the EMAapproval forCx601 is expected soon, which will then be commercialized by Takeda, the company may actually be underestimated. The biotech recently started a new Phase Ib/IIa trial to testCx611 as a treatment for sepsis in patients with pneumonia.

Asecond platform consisting of transplanted allogeneic cardiac stem cells (AlloCSC)is currently in Phase II for acute myocardial infarction. It seems like TiGenix is definitely clinging toits position as one of the pioneers in stem cell-based therapies.

Images via shutterstock.com / CI Photos and CC 3.0 /RicHard-59

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Stem Cell Therapy receives FDA Boost to enter the US Market - Labiotech.eu (blog)