Celebrating 2007, 25th Stem Cell Anniversary & Life-saving Siblings

Happy 2007 to all Stem Cell bankers and StemLife blog readers!I wrote this entry just before midnight asian time and thought it would be nice to end the year of 2006 with a happy stem cell update and another one of hope to start 2007. I would like to start this entry by acknowledging the importance of siblings in enabling successful stem cell transplants.

SIBLINGS ARE SO IMPORTANT

The first story is a lovely one about a sister who donated her bone marrow stem cells to her brother 25 years ago, which saved his life from leukemia. The procedure was performed as one of the pioneering transplants at Hammersmith hospital in London, to think that transplant procedures are considered almost standard at most major hospitals offering cancer therapy today.

Paul Rosen who is now 51 now has 2 grown up children and a successful career as a accountant. His sister Helen, who is six years older than he is, are now sharing their success story to encourage others to also help their siblings if the need should arise.

Unfortunately, at the same time as Paul was in hospital, his friend who was also warded in for the same condition refused to ask his sister to donate (presumably they were told that the procedure was experimental) and they held off the procedure for 2 years. However, in the 2 years, his condition deteriorated and by the time he agreed to undergo the transplant, he passed on.

While there are public registries of bone marrow donors and umbilical cord blood stem cell units, there are many people who are still unable to find a match. StemLife is offering to provide a practical solution to this through stem cell banking for individuals who can store their stem cells for later use.

I found an interesting blog from a leukemia transplant patient who underwent a similar procedure to Paul Rosen at Hammersmith hospital. Check out Sandy Craine's blog.


In a separate story, a little girl of 4, Kayla Smith is searching for matching stem cells which will allow her to undergo a stem cell transplant for her congenital condition- sickle cell anemia (have a look at this site to see what nasty symptoms result from sickle cell anemia). She's already suffered 2 strokes due to the condition which puts her at risk of a potential major stroke. She receives monthly blood transfusions which take several hours, but recently, the blood transfusions have lost their effectiveness and she needs a stem cell transplant to really bring about a cure.

Kayla has a brother but his stem cells were not a match.

Kayla's doctor is a paediatric hematologist and oncologist by the name of Julie Panepinto, and she said that the transient ischemic attacks that her patient has been experiencing since the age of two indicates that the blood transfusions are no longer effective. Her most recent stroke and seizure was when she was nearly three. As a result of these ischemic attacks, a large part of her brain has been affected and Dr. Panepinto suspects that Kayla's learning ability may have been severely compromised.

Initially, the doctors thought that they had found a good bone marrow match, but upon more detailed tests, the match was found to be too imperfect for the transplant. Kayla is still waiting for that perfect match... but in the meantime, I'm wondering if the parents are game to try what others in the same position have done before- concieve another child with a perfect HLA match to Kayla, but without the disease. The UK courts permitted it, probably on grounds that the parents would be able to care and love the child without any economic or emotional problem. This may be an option to explore, so that a stem cell transplant can be performed, before another more severe stroke happens.


StemLife provides stem cell banking services from cord blood and adult peripheral blood. While sickle cell anemia is not common genetically within the Malaysian population, another genetic blood disorder which results in similar symptoms and has a wide prevalence is Thalassemia beta major. Palliative care, as in the case of Kayla, is blood transfusion and chelation therapy but not without its side effects on other organ functions. A stem cell transplant currently provides the only means for a cure and a chance at life without continuous daily medication.

With a view to benefit a diverse Malaysian community and provide accessible services to those who need it most, StemLife takes every unit banked very seriously and endeavors to make a real difference in making stem cell transplantation a reality for StemLife family bankers today.


ps. If you'd like to read a short overview of stem cell transplantation for blood disorders, have a look at this site.


pps. Interestingly, the article on Kayla also mentions little Kailee Wells, a 9 year old adopted chinese girl who suffered from severe aplastic anemia. The update on her case is that she required a second transplant after the first one was unsuccessful. However, despite the second transplant, Kailee's cell counts continued to decline, but fortunately, her donor from China has agreed to donate more marrow to provide a boost via a straightforward stem cell infusion without chemotherapy (chemo is required only to kill cancerous cells or defective stem cells).