US doctors to use stem cells to repair patient's damaged spinal cord

A patient with a damaged spinal cord in the US has become the first to be injected with embryonic stem cells in a landmark clinical trial of the therapy.

The controversial and long-awaited trial was given the green light by the US Food and Drug Administration in January last year and is being organised by Geron, a biotech company based in California.

In animal trials of the treatment, paralysed rats regained some movement. But it is not yet known if it will offer any benefit to people with spinal cord injuries.

"When we started working with human embryonic stem cells in 1999, many predicted that it would be a number of decades before a cell therapy would be approved for human clinical trials," The Guardian quoted Thomas Okarma, Geron's CEO as saying.

The patient, who requested to remain anonymous, was treated last week at the Shepherd Centre, a specialist spine and brain injury unit in Atlanta.

Further, patients who have received a spinal injury within the past 14 days will be injected with living cells that are precursors of a kind found in the nervous system as a part of phase-one trial, targeted to establish only whether the treatment is safe to use.

The cells are expected to infiltrate the site of the injury and release chemicals that help repair damaged spinal cord nerves.

"This first-in-man study marks the dawn of the stem cell age," said Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London.

"There are still many years of rigorous testing ahead and no doubt there will be setbacks and failures before we have safe and effective cell-based therapies," he added.

"This pivotal clinical trial would be a major morale boost for scientists, clinicians and, most of all, patients by finally commencing the transformation of stem cells from a scientific curiosity into advanced healthcare."

Throughout the trial, doctors will monitor patients to see whether they are regaining sensation or better able to move parts of the body affected by their injury.

Sir Ian Wilmut, director of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, who led the team that created Dolly the sheep, said: "This is very exciting news; however, it is very important to appreciate that the objective of trials at this stage is to confirm first of all that no harm is done to patients, rather than to look for benefits.

"Once that has been confirmed the focus will move on to development and assessment of the new treatment."

In adition, Professor Chris Mason, an expert in regenerative medicine at University College London, said UK researchers hope to follow suit and begin trials next year with a stem cell treatment for age-related macular degeneration — a leading cause of blindness.