When the Institute was founded in 2005, there were a number of pioneering stem cell treatments being offered overseas (outside of the USA). There were none in the USA except for the 40 year old procedure involving bone marrow transplantation after chemotherapy. A typical example of a new therapy was the liver regeneration being conducted by Russian physicians. In an amazing procedure, fetal liver tissue was transplanted into patients with various liver diseases including cirrhosis, hepatitis and other damage. The patients’ livers regenerated and the patients were cured. The procedure was also a substitute for a liver transplant. Because the fetal tissue had no antigenic determinants on the cell membranes (having been collected at about 8 weeks prior to the time immunological factors appear), there was no graft vs. host rejection, and consequently no need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of one’s life. It was presumed that stem cells and cytokines (small messenger molecules) present in the fetal tissue extract were responsible for the effectiveness of the treatment. And the treatment was very effective. International centers are now trying to duplicate the kinds of successes achieved with fetal tissue, by using the patients own adult stem cells, thereby making the treatment more widely available.
During the period 2005-2010, many US physicians and US trained scientists set up clinics overseas where US patients and other international patients could be treated outside of the regulatory constraints of the US. Most notably, an entire lab of Chinese investigators trained at the National Institutes of Health (USA) left and formed what was to become the world’s leading stem cell treatment center in China. Other US physicians, by joint venture or otherwise, became associated with clinics in Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican Republic and many other countries. Thailand began funding a stem cell mega-project to supply stem cell preparations to physicians at various hospitals.
Initially, because information on these international treatments was scarce, it was envisioned that the Institute could assist patients in locating suitable treatment centers. The Institute would review the methodologies, obtain cost data, and make recommendations. But now, there are so many fine websites and patient advocacy groups to which to refer patients, that the Institute will concentrate more on its biomedical Journal and its other mission in education, as well as on establishing a clinic in Thailand. The Journal of the Drake Biomedical Institute, available on this website, will publish medical reports on stem cell treatments authored by the health care practitioners involved.
It seems very strange to find the USA absent from advances occurring over the last 10 years. To be sure, a lot of heavy research is being conducted in many labs and centers across the country. Possibly there has been too much emphasis on promoting research and treatment using embryonic stem cells harvested from embryos. It is hard to say what happened. And hard to say if this will be changed anytime soon. If the strategy is changed, it appears it will have to come from demands by an educated public.
In any event, it appears, just from the tone and substance of general reporting, that the medical and pharmacological establishment in the USA, not happy at all about what is happening with stem cell treatments, and totally losing their grip and control on this new modality, has begun to try to police the world. Even the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), which was organized to promote stem cell research, has now become a political tool for misinforming US patients about the suspected (but yet to be proven) dangers of traveling overseas for stem cell therapy. We find it very strange indeed that the ISSCR’s self appointed “Task Force on Unproven Stem Cell Treatments” is chaired by Patrick Taylor JD, a member of Harvard Law School. Why is a lawyer mixed up in science? He is interested in “regulation”, and with his influence within the ISSCR, the normal scientific curiosity, that would make any reasonable scientist wonder if indeed some beneficial effects of adult stem cell therapy might be well founded and should be explored, seems to have been abrogated. The US medical establishment, not offering any stem cell treatments of its own, has become jealous of international providers and is determined in every way possible, including issuance of misleading and false information, to shut down or discredit many international operations.
Luckily for patients with severe disabling conditions and injuries, stem cell treatments continue to be offered overseas by reputable physicians and reputable medical centers.
Some Treatment Centers Worthy of Consideration
Stem Cell Institute in Panama City Panama: cellmedicine.com. This is a world class clinic deserving of a patient’s consideration. They treat primarily auto-immune diseases and spinal injuries as shown by their list: Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Diabetes Type 2, Heart Failure, Osteoarthritis & Degenerative Joint Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Spinal Cord Injury. The clinic is particularly cutting edge in that they only treat the patient with autologous stem cells (meaning, cells harvested from the patient), which are injected back into the patient. This approach, using autologous stem cells harvested from the patient, will eventually become the global gold standard of treatment.
Medra Inc [www.medra.com]: This clinic is in the Dominican Republic. It specializes in fetal stem cell therapy, that is using fetal tissue to obtain stem cells and other cytokines for injection into patients. Because the tissue is derived from embryos less than 8 weeks old, there is no graft vs host rejection issue. This approach has a long history of success in Russia (see discussion above concerning liver regeneration). However, one note of caution. For genetic diseases, such as ALS, stem cell treatments may only help to control or stabilize the disease. This is in contrast to repairing damage to a system or organ caused by viral attack, trauma or otherwise, which can be repaired generally with one stem cell treatment. In the large picture, the body’s own stem cells probably cannot “repair” a genetic disorder. So, while injecting healthy stem cells and other messenger molecules may revive normal organ or system functioning, that improved function will probably wane over time, necessitating additional stem cell treatments. For many, this can be an expensive and possibly unaffordable solution. For others, this can be a lifesaver worth any amount of money. (see patient Ellie’s history under the Patient History section of the Medra website). The efficacy of fetal stem cell tissue transplantation appears to be well documented, and indeed fetal tissue transplantation experimentation has occurred in the US for over 20 years.
Vescell [www.vescell.com]: The web site is a bit confusing, but the success of its stem cell therapy for heart patients is not. The Vescell approach is to harvest adult stem cells from the patient, and “expand them”, meaning multiply them in vitro, and then inject them into a patient’s heart. Originally, it appears that the program was operated out of two hospitals in Bangkok, Thailand. The Chief of Surgery was a Thai physician who spent 20 years training in cardiology in the US and then moved to Bangkok to establish a heart center where patients would be treated with stem cells. Their works have been published in various peer reviewed medical journals, e.g. Chaithiraphan S, et al. “Transcoronary Injection of Angiogenic Cells Precursurs and Autologous Stem Cell in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: A Clinical Study of 106 Cases in Thailand”, Asean Heart Journal, 17 (No 1):13-22, 2009. However, currently, the Thai Medical Ministry, possibly under pressure from the US FDA, has suspended the treatment because the stem cells, though harvested from the heart patients themselves, were expanded ex vivo in a lab in Israel and then shipped back to Thailand for implantation. The treatment for cardiac patients is now available elsewhere according to the website.
For a look at some of the views of Vescell’s founder, you can read his paper. A bit over the top, but it does contain some important factual backgrounds and highlights the frustrations encountered by a private entrepreneur who has sought to help people by promoting stem cell treatments. Click Here for Don Margolis’s very thorough review of stem cell treatments with adult stem cells, updated through 2007: The $100 Billion Scam.
