Stem Cells Used to Treat Killer Lung Disease
Related News: Stem Cell ResearchA team at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital finds evidence in two young boys with cystic fibrosis who had been given lung transplants. The donor lungs had come from girls, yet some of the boys' new lung cells contained the male Y chromosome, suggesting they were self-made.... Read On
Doctors have shown that people who have had bone marrow transplants develop lung cells that resemble the genetic make up of the donor rather than themselves.
More than 7,500 people - about half of whom are children - have CF in the UK.
The average life expectancy for patients is 31 years. Most die from complications of the lung which is the main organ affected.
"It's a bit early to say, but it might be possible one day to mobilise these cells as a therapy." - Professor Julia Polak, director of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine at Imperial College
Posted on December 29, 2004 09:08 AM