http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/06/stem-cells-shown-safe-beneficial-for-chronic-stroke-patients.html
People disabled by a
stroke demonstrated substantial recovery long after the event when
modified adult stem cells were injected into their brains.
Jun 2
2016
Sonia Olea Coontz had a stroke in
2011 that affected the movement of her right arm and leg. After modified
stem cells were injected into her brain as part of a clinical trial,
she says her limbs "woke up."
Mark Rightmire
Mark Rightmire
Injecting modified, human, adult stem cells directly into the brains
of chronic stroke patients proved not only safe but effective in
restoring motor function, according to the findings of a small clinical
trial led by Stanford University School of Medicine investigators.
The patients, all of whom had suffered their first and only stroke between six months and three years before receiving the injections, remained conscious under light anesthesia throughout the procedure, which involved drilling a small hole through their skulls. The next day they all went home.
Although more than three-quarters of them suffered from transient headaches afterward — probably due to the surgical procedure and the physical constraints employed to ensure its precision — there were no side effects attributable to the stem cells themselves, and no life-threatening adverse effects linked to the procedure used to administer them, according to a paper, published online June 2 in Stroke, that details the trial’s results.
Sonia Olea Coontz, of Long Beach, California, was one of those patients. Now 36, Coontz had a stroke in May 2011. She enrolled in the Stanford trial after finding out about it during an online search.
“My right arm wasn’t working at all,” said Coontz. “It felt like it was almost dead. My right leg worked, but not well.” She walked with a noticeable limp. “I used a wheelchair a lot.”
Not anymore, though.
“After my surgery, they woke up,” she said of her limbs.
The promising results set the stage for an expanded trial of the procedure now getting underway. They also call for new thinking regarding the permanence of brain damage, said Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, professor and chair of neurosurgery. Steinberg, who has more than 15 years’ worth of experience in work with stem cell therapies for neurological indications, is the paper’s lead and senior author.
“This was just a single trial, and a small one,” cautioned Steinberg,
who led the 18-patient trial and conducted 12 of the procedures
himself. (The rest were performed at the University of Pittsburgh.) “It
was designed primarily to test the procedure’s safety. But patients
improved by several standard measures, and their improvement was not
only statistically significant, but clinically meaningful. Their ability
to move around has recovered visibly. That’s unprecedented. At six
months out from a stroke, you don’t expect to see any further recovery.”
Although approved therapies for ischemic stroke exist, to be effective they must be applied within a few hours of the event — a time frame that often is exceeded by the amount of time it takes for a stroke patient to arrive at a treatment center.
The patients, all of whom had suffered their first and only stroke between six months and three years before receiving the injections, remained conscious under light anesthesia throughout the procedure, which involved drilling a small hole through their skulls. The next day they all went home.
Although more than three-quarters of them suffered from transient headaches afterward — probably due to the surgical procedure and the physical constraints employed to ensure its precision — there were no side effects attributable to the stem cells themselves, and no life-threatening adverse effects linked to the procedure used to administer them, according to a paper, published online June 2 in Stroke, that details the trial’s results.
Sonia Olea Coontz, of Long Beach, California, was one of those patients. Now 36, Coontz had a stroke in May 2011. She enrolled in the Stanford trial after finding out about it during an online search.
“My right arm wasn’t working at all,” said Coontz. “It felt like it was almost dead. My right leg worked, but not well.” She walked with a noticeable limp. “I used a wheelchair a lot.”
Not anymore, though.
“After my surgery, they woke up,” she said of her limbs.
The promising results set the stage for an expanded trial of the procedure now getting underway. They also call for new thinking regarding the permanence of brain damage, said Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, professor and chair of neurosurgery. Steinberg, who has more than 15 years’ worth of experience in work with stem cell therapies for neurological indications, is the paper’s lead and senior author.
‘Clinically meaningful’ results
“This was just a single trial, and a small one,” cautioned Steinberg,
who led the 18-patient trial and conducted 12 of the procedures
himself. (The rest were performed at the University of Pittsburgh.) “It
was designed primarily to test the procedure’s safety. But patients
improved by several standard measures, and their improvement was not
only statistically significant, but clinically meaningful. Their ability
to move around has recovered visibly. That’s unprecedented. At six
months out from a stroke, you don’t expect to see any further recovery.”Their ability to move around has recovered visibly. That’s unprecedented.Some 800,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the United States alone. About 85 percent of all strokes are ischemic: They occur when a clot forms in a blood vessel supplying blood to part of the brain, with subsequent intensive damage to the affected area. The specific loss of function incurred depends on exactly where within the brain the stroke occurs, and on its magnitude.
Although approved therapies for ischemic stroke exist, to be effective they must be applied within a few hours of the event — a time frame that often is exceeded by the amount of time it takes for a stroke patient to arrive at a treatment center.
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