Adult Stem Cells and Lupus

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Rochester Area Right To Life

Adult Stem Cell Treatment of Lupus at Northwestern

Dr. Richard Burt has successfully treated lupus patients with adult stem cells.  An associate professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and the chief of Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Diseases at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, he did a five year study of 50 patients who had at that point no further treatment options available and were very ill.

His study showed an overall five-year survival rate of 84 percent, with 50% of the patients being disease-free at the end of the five years.

Lupus is a disease in which the immune system malfunctions and begins to destroy the patient�s own body.  It can strike at many different organs, with symptoms that range from the characteristic skin rash and swollen joints to severe damage of multiple organs, with a poor prognosis.

For treatment, adult stem cells were taken from the bone marrow of each patient and cleaned to remove other blood cells.  The patient was then subjected to high levels of chemotherapy to wipe out the entire immune system, after which his own stem cells were re-introduced to the bone marrow to recreate an immune system.

The process is a grueling one and Dr. Burt points out that it is important that the therapy take place in an institution that has experience in these treatments.  An earlier study in Europe had a similar success rate but their mortality rate related to the treatment itself was over six times the rate in Dr. Burt�s study.

 

For more information see:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=36989

 Updated on RARTL July, 2006


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