Lupus Stem Cell Treatment Study in Chicago Shows Promise
Related News: Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells and CancerNews is coming out of Chicago about rebuilding the immune system of patients suffering from Lupus with their own stem cells can promote remission in some of the most severely ill, when other forms of treatment have failed .. this based on a new study out of the US.
Medical researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago are reporting that they have found that half of the patients treated with stem-cell transplants were disease-free after five years. Addtitionally, the overall survival rate for the patients in the study was 84 per cent.
"These were people who were quite ill, who had failed current available therapies, with very active disease, often multi-organ involvement," lead researcher Dr. Richard Burt was quoted on Tuesday from Chicago. "We're looking at life-threatening, organ-threatening disease."
This seven-year study, which will be published in Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, consisted of 48 patients from all across the United States.
Burt's team used a transplant procedure that is similar to those employed to treat some forms of cancer. Stem cells were extracted from samples of the patients' blood. The patients' immune systems were then virtually destroyed with chemotherapy. The stem cells were then returned to the bone marrow which generally lead the patient to regenerate a new and healthier immune system.
Read More in Canada - Patients' own stem cells may treat lupus
Posted on February 2, 2006 12:32 AM