Q. Would I be able to choose which stem cells to use for ethical reasons?
A. Presently, the only stem cell therapy available is that based on autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Other possible stem cells (mesenchymal, neural, etc.) are still far from being used routinely in the clinic. Thus, at this time there is no possibility to choose.
Q. Is stem cell therapy a “one-time” treatment or can it be an ongoing programme?
A. So far autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been performed as a “onetime” treatment for patients with MS. It cannot be excluded that in the future whatever type of stem cell therapy used will require repeated or multiple treatments.
Q. Would stem cells help me even if my MRI results show no new lesions?
A. Currently there are no consistent data showing that autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be effective when no signs of ongoing inflammation are present. On the other hand, it appears that the more inflammatory the disease, the better the outcome after transplantation.
Q. Where do embryonic stem cells come from? Can they be created or must they come from a living organism?
A. Presently, human embryonic stem cells (ES) come only from early stage human embryos (those used for in vitro fertilisation) or from therapeutic cloning. In mice the possibility of obtaining ES from mature cells (for example skin cells) is possible, thus avoiding the use of “living organisms”. Very recently it has been shown that a procedure called “somatic cell programming” is also possible using human adult tissues. In November 2007, Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan reported making pluripotent (ES-like) cells – cells that can turn into any of the roughly 220 cell types in the body – by using retroviruses to carry three key genes into human skin cells.
Although this can be considered as a major advancement in ES research, it is a general belief that much more work needs to be done before translating such advances into clinical practice.
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