Texas Teen Opts for Stem Cell Therapy, Hopes of Enlisting in Military

-- Sergio Lopez, 18, of Kyle, Texas, recently underwent a new stem cell therapy treatment using his own bone marrow-derived stem cells in lieu of traditional surgery to repair a broken bone in his arm that would not heal. Traditional treatment for his pathology, known as a non-union, is to implant a device, such as a screw or plate. It's this implantation that deterred Lopez from receiving the surgery.

"I have been planning on enlisting in the Army and I didn't want to have any metal implanted in my arm," said Lopez. "My surgeon, Dr. Sheely, suggested stem cell therapy as an option. It sounded like a good idea so we went for it."

Dr. Christina Sheely, of Southwest Orthopedic Group, first met Lopez in February. When she learned he wanted to enlist in the military, she suggested stem cell therapy as an effective alternative to traditional surgery.

"The use of a patient's own stem cells has been shown to effectively grow bone, specifically in non-unions, such as Sergio's," said Sheely. "I was pleased that I was able to offer a treatment that wouldn't keep him from doing what he wanted in life."

The stem cell therapy procedure took 2 hours from start to finish. During the procedure, bone marrow is aspirated from the iliac crest (pelvis), and then processed in a cell concentration system. The system, from Austin-based biotech company, Celling Technologies, concentrates bone marrow allowing the desired cells to be delivered back to the patient. The surgeon is then able to deliver a cocktail of wound-healing cells directly back to the injured site. These cells will release growth factors, immune responses and have the potential to develop into new bone-forming cells.

In addition to non-unions, patients' own bone marrow-derived stem cells are being used in a variety of sports-related and orthopedic procedures.

"Non-union, long bone fracture applications using the patient's owns stem cells is our fastest growing segment," said Dru Dunworth of Celling Technologies. "Each day we are discovering the potential for more and more orthopedic applications using our cell concentration systems."

Sheely has a follow-up appointment scheduled with Lopez in the next week. She is hopeful the procedure will prove to be successful.

"I feel confident that we will see positive results in Sergio's arm," said Sheely. "I'm eager to use this type of stem cell therapy to treat patients with similar conditions."

The surgeons at Southwest Orthopaedic Group (SWOG) are highly experienced, board certified orthopedic surgeons with extensive clinical and surgical expertise. SWOG doctors work together as a team to provide every patient the best possible treatment. Through their partnership and through recent dramatic medical advancements in the area of orthopedics, the surgeons at SWOG are leading the way in patient care.

Celling Technologies, a SpineSmith Partners company, works closely with surgeons, scientists and engineers to research and develop innovative technologies in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Celling's product offering focuses on autologous cell therapy.

Tens of thousands of patients with MS could benefit from the revolutionary treatment if the tests taking place at the Frenchay hospital, near Bristol, are successful.

Patients are injected with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow, not from umbilical cords. This stem cell therapy procedure involves patients being injected with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow, in the hope that they will travel to damaged parts of the brain and repair them. It could take months or years for the treatment to begin to undo the damage caused by the incurable disease, which affects the central nervous system, and it is not known for sure that it will work.

But researchers are confident the stem cell therapy will be a major breakthrough for the 85,000 people in Britain who suffer from MS, many of whom are left wheelchair-bound and paralysed. Neil Scolding, professor of clinical neurosciences for North Bristol NHS Trust, who is leading the trial, said: "We believe that bone marrow cells have the capability to repair precisely the type of damage that we see in the brain and spinal cord in MS.

"So by giving patients very large numbers of their own bone marrow cells thru stem cell therapy, we hope that this will help stabilise the disease and bring about some repair."

The trial, which started six months ago, is one of the first to use patients' own bone marrow stem cells to treat their MS. It involves six people with MS, aged between 30 and 60, having a pint of bone marrow extracted from their pelvises.

The processed material, containing stem cells, is then injected on the same day into the patients' arms. Over a period of months, the patients will be monitored closely and given regular brain scans to see what impact the stem cell treatment has had on them.

Previous studies have shown that stem cells are able to develop into other cell types, travel through the bloodstream to the brain and are actively taken up by damaged areas.

The Frenchay trial avoids the ethical controversy that surrounds many stem cell studies because it does not use human embryos. Although the first patients in the trial underwent the stem cell therapy six months ago, Prof Scolding said it was still too early to tell whether there had been any benefits. It is not yet known whether the MS sufferers will need more than one injection of stem cells.

Liz Allison, an MS patient taking part in the trial, told the BBC: "I'm hoping there will be some improvement." Christine Jones, the chief executive of the MS Trust, said: "We're delighted that this new trial is going ahead and there will be an awful lot of people with MS watching it very closely."

MS sufferers have previously been offered stem cell therapy in Holland. But those tests have proved controversial because they are expensive and because the cells are taken from babies' umbilical cords. This raises the risk that they will be rejected by the patient receiving them.

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