Patients’ Stem Cells Could Treat Their Heart Disease
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| Dr. Douglas Losordo |
Preliminary data presented on March 28 as a late-breaking abstract at the American College of Cardiology’s 58th annual scientific session from the largest CD34+ adult stem cell study for heart disease has shown the first evidence that delivering a potent form of autologous (from the patient) adult stem cells into the heart muscle of patients with severe angina may result in less pain and improved exercise tolerance.
The sixâmonth, Phase II data were presented by principal investigator Douglas Losordo, MD, director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Feinberg School of Medicine and of the Program in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The trial was sponsored by Baxter International Inc.
“The results from this study provide the first evidence that a patient’s own stem cells could actually be used as a treatment for their heart disease,” said Dr. Losordo, who also is the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research at the Feinberg School. “The study provides potential hope for those patients with currently untreatable angina to be more active with less pain.”
“Baxter sponsored this trial in order to continue advancing the science of adult stem cell therapies for cardiovascular disease,” said Hartmut J. Ehrlich, MD, vice president of global research and development for Baxter’s BioScience business. “While the preliminary results from this earlyâstage trial seem encouraging, further studies will be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of this adult stem cell therapy.”
Losordo also cautioned that the findings of the 26âsite trial, while encouraging, are not yet definitive and require verification in a larger study. Northwestern Memorial Hospital was the lead site of the study.
~Marla Paul