Success in stem cell treatments usually means stem cell rescue
My apologies to those who have been watching for a new blog entry. I've been battling pneumonia and unable to think coherently. I hope I'm recovering now.
Meanwhile, I discovered that the link from the Geneforum home page to the Genetizen blog does not show all the entries. Please check on the right of the screen on the home page for anything you may have missed. My apologies to those who think the last entry was June 1; I didn't intend to become part of the many blogs that started and promptly died. I just have trouble keeping my log on and passwords straight.
Anyway, I have been researching the question of how successful stem cell treatments are and now understand more clearly why "local woman needs stem cell transplant" can be a headline at the same time controversial stem cell research centers are being considered across the US. How can something considered an acceptable and promising treatment still be so controversial?
In reviewing the references I received from Hollowell [see the earlier blog called Leads on question of...], I found that the majority of the references were to what I prefer to call stem cell rescue. Bone marrow cells--which are the "stem cells" for the components of the blood, including the key elements of the immune system--are transfused into a patient to help that patient recover from chemotherapy for an advanced cancer. Yes, this is stem cell therapy; but it's not what's generally being disputed in Congress, many states of the US, and many countries of the world. Because the cells being transfused would normally develop into blood cells, all we are dealing with is rescue of the patient's blood-forming capacity.
So, when people speak of the success of stem cell therapy, they are often speaking of stem cell rescue.
As explained in another blog [Interpreting stem cell research], precision in wording is essential to understanding what is really happening in any report, whether it be in a peer-reviewed journal, a government publication, online, or in the local newspaper.
Marie Godfrey, PhDÂ <!--break-->