6 ms·

First Ever Quadriplegic Treated with Stem Cells Regains Upper Body Motor Control

225 points by sua_3000 10y ago

ericjang 10y ago
This is really cool! Can anyone comment on what the state of art is on restoring motor function in paralyzed animals (i.e. rats, mice) ?
toodlebunions 10y ago
Potentially amazing news Here's the direct Link minus the weird reblog of press release http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands-after-experimental-stem-cell-therapy-at-keck-hospital-of-usc-300323407.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regain...
- tunap 10y ago
  And the source, I believe verbatim... https://news.usc.edu/107047/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-helps-paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands/ https://news.usc.edu/107047/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-h...
  - tominous 10y ago
    And the ClinicalTrials.gov record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02302157 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02302157
    - happyslobro 10y ago
      And this video shows how the procedure is performed, and clearly demonstrates its effectiveness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJi0zfodI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJi0zfodI
Teever 10y ago
> Once Kris made the decision to pursue enrollment in the study, dozens of doctors, nurses, rehabilitation specialists and others sprang into action. Because he would need to provide voice confirmation of his desire to participate in the study, Kris had to be able to breathe without a ventilator. That is an interesting requirement. I don't think it's necessary. morse code via blinking isn't sufficient?
- arkades 10y ago
  I've never seen a voiced-consent requirement before... and it makes absolutely no ethical sense, either.
  - jacalata 10y ago
    Perhaps they actually mean that patients must be capable of breathing independently to enroll in the study, and that voiced consent is the metric used?
- rincebrain 10y ago
  I would guess this is either an artifact, or a deliberate requirement to avoid patients who are entirely helpless "agreeing" to something because they have no choice/little control/...
tomcam 10y ago
All that and he survived living in Bakersfield
imaginenore 10y ago
Hope you don't hate me for kind of a joke comment, but it's extremely relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE
mercurialshark 10y ago
This is incredible. A non-speculative, non-hypothetical-petri-dish-stem-cell-potential announcement, but tangible, life altering progress that's happening now. I hope they continue with the initiative and other institutions follow their lead soon if it proves successful.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Likewise! I think this is the first time all year I've been moved to deploy the phrase "Welcome to the world of the future" without grim irony. Truly amazing! I hope his recovery proceeds apace and without setback.
WheelsAtLarge 10y ago
This is great news but I would be a bit cautious about it. I love the idea that stem cell therapy can cure spinal cord injuries but I know for a fact that spinal cord injuries are unpredictable as to what the long term impact will be. Professionals in the field know that people with these injuries can regain mobility months and years after the accident. I know of a few extreme cases where individuals were told they would never walk but within a few months were able to walk out of the hospital.There are other more common cases where movement to limbs increased in time. I point this out not to throw water at the cure but it's a bit premature to celebrate and get people's hopes up without knowing the reality of the treatment. I love the idea but one person does not prove a cure. I sincerely hope that Kris' improvement continues and that the therapy is as good as it's hoped. The Christphere Reeves foundation has a great area on the subject. https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-research https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-re...
- stenl 10y ago
  Here's a press release from the company: http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/asterias-biotherapeutics-announces-positive-efficacy-data-in-patients-with-complete-cervical-spinal-cord-injuries-treated-with-ast-opc1/ http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/asterias-biotherapeutics-... They're doing a dosing study, with escalating number of cells injected. Results are promising, but the study includes no controls, so there is no way to know if the cell-based treatment is better than no treatment. The current study is open-label (i.e. not blinded) single-arm (no controls). Once they establish the right dose, they will need to do a double-blind randomized controlled study to find out if it works.
  - JshWright 10y ago
    Blinding isn't especially important for a procedure like this. An RCT would be a sufficiently strong study design, in my opinion.
    - robbiep 10y ago
      If you were going to RCT, in this instance, why would you not blind? Sham injections - it's a no brainer. Why get the second best level of evidence if you can get the best?
loteck 10y ago
San Diego man seeking help with effects of stroke gets stem cell treatments that leave him partially paralyzed and with mysterious tumor. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem-cell-companies-costly-unpr/ http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem...
- stormbrew 10y ago
  Perhaps more accurately: San Diego man makes incredibly risky gamble on untested treatment and bad things happen. Given that, I'm curious what your point is here? This is a multiphase clinical trial. That was someone going to another country to bypass the very safety measures this trial is a part of.
benjismith 10y ago
That's the best thing I've heard all day!
ridruejo 10y ago
This is fantastic news. I can't but think of the many people that have contemplated assisted suicide that were in his position. This should give them hope.
WalterBright 10y ago
I'm amazed nobody has tried this before. In any case, it's wonderful news.
dia80 10y ago
I'm really pleased for this guy and hope he can continue to make progress. Unfortunately the information content of these events is at best modest. After spinal cord injury you can get "spinal shock" which can last for a month or two. When it wears off you can recover a lot of previously lost function. As other comments point out bigger trials will be required to prove any efficacy. Also there are many things in development to help acute spinal cord injury (some of which are FDA devices) but chronic SCI is a much thornier and challenging problem.

225 points by sua_3000 10y ago

This is really cool! Can anyone comment on what the state of art is on restoring motor function in paralyzed animals (i.e. rats, mice) ?

toodlebunions 10y ago

Potentially amazing news Here's the direct Link minus the weird reblog of press release http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands-after-experimental-stem-cell-therapy-at-keck-hospital-of-usc-300323407.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regain...

tunap 10y ago
And the source, I believe verbatim... https://news.usc.edu/107047/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-helps-paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands/ https://news.usc.edu/107047/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-h...
- tominous 10y ago
  And the ClinicalTrials.gov record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02302157 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02302157
  - happyslobro 10y ago
    And this video shows how the procedure is performed, and clearly demonstrates its effectiveness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJi0zfodI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJi0zfodI

Teever 10y ago

> Once Kris made the decision to pursue enrollment in the study, dozens of doctors, nurses, rehabilitation specialists and others sprang into action. Because he would need to provide voice confirmation of his desire to participate in the study, Kris had to be able to breathe without a ventilator. That is an interesting requirement. I don't think it's necessary. morse code via blinking isn't sufficient?

arkades 10y ago
I've never seen a voiced-consent requirement before... and it makes absolutely no ethical sense, either.
- jacalata 10y ago
  Perhaps they actually mean that patients must be capable of breathing independently to enroll in the study, and that voiced consent is the metric used?
rincebrain 10y ago
I would guess this is either an artifact, or a deliberate requirement to avoid patients who are entirely helpless "agreeing" to something because they have no choice/little control/...

tomcam 10y ago

All that and he survived living in Bakersfield

imaginenore 10y ago

Hope you don't hate me for kind of a joke comment, but it's extremely relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE

mercurialshark 10y ago

This is incredible. A non-speculative, non-hypothetical-petri-dish-stem-cell-potential announcement, but tangible, life altering progress that's happening now. I hope they continue with the initiative and other institutions follow their lead soon if it proves successful.

throwanem 10y ago
Likewise! I think this is the first time all year I've been moved to deploy the phrase "Welcome to the world of the future" without grim irony. Truly amazing! I hope his recovery proceeds apace and without setback.

WheelsAtLarge 10y ago

This is great news but I would be a bit cautious about it. I love the idea that stem cell therapy can cure spinal cord injuries but I know for a fact that spinal cord injuries are unpredictable as to what the long term impact will be. Professionals in the field know that people with these injuries can regain mobility months and years after the accident. I know of a few extreme cases where individuals were told they would never walk but within a few months were able to walk out of the hospital.There are other more common cases where movement to limbs increased in time. I point this out not to throw water at the cure but it's a bit premature to celebrate and get people's hopes up without knowing the reality of the treatment. I love the idea but one person does not prove a cure. I sincerely hope that Kris' improvement continues and that the therapy is as good as it's hoped. The Christphere Reeves foundation has a great area on the subject. https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-research https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-re...

stenl 10y ago
Here's a press release from the company: http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/asterias-biotherapeutics-announces-positive-efficacy-data-in-patients-with-complete-cervical-spinal-cord-injuries-treated-with-ast-opc1/ http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/asterias-biotherapeutics-... They're doing a dosing study, with escalating number of cells injected. Results are promising, but the study includes no controls, so there is no way to know if the cell-based treatment is better than no treatment. The current study is open-label (i.e. not blinded) single-arm (no controls). Once they establish the right dose, they will need to do a double-blind randomized controlled study to find out if it works.
- JshWright 10y ago
  Blinding isn't especially important for a procedure like this. An RCT would be a sufficiently strong study design, in my opinion.
  - robbiep 10y ago
    If you were going to RCT, in this instance, why would you not blind? Sham injections - it's a no brainer. Why get the second best level of evidence if you can get the best?

loteck 10y ago

San Diego man seeking help with effects of stroke gets stem cell treatments that leave him partially paralyzed and with mysterious tumor. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem-cell-companies-costly-unpr/ http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem...

stormbrew 10y ago
Perhaps more accurately: San Diego man makes incredibly risky gamble on untested treatment and bad things happen. Given that, I'm curious what your point is here? This is a multiphase clinical trial. That was someone going to another country to bypass the very safety measures this trial is a part of.

benjismith 10y ago

That's the best thing I've heard all day!

ridruejo 10y ago

This is fantastic news. I can't but think of the many people that have contemplated assisted suicide that were in his position. This should give them hope.

WalterBright 10y ago

I'm amazed nobody has tried this before. In any case, it's wonderful news.

dia80 10y ago

I'm really pleased for this guy and hope he can continue to make progress. Unfortunately the information content of these events is at best modest. After spinal cord injury you can get "spinal shock" which can last for a month or two. When it wears off you can recover a lot of previously lost function. As other comments point out bigger trials will be required to prove any efficacy. Also there are many things in development to help acute spinal cord injury (some of which are FDA devices) but chronic SCI is a much thornier and challenging problem.