11 ms·

Cancer Patient Effectively Donates A Life-Saving Organ--To Himself

79 points by martinshen 15y ago

ggchappell 15y ago
The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here. That said, assuming his description of the technique is reasonably accurate (which, given the above-mentioned nonsense, is by no means certain), this sounds like an interesting and useful technique.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- esrauch 15y ago
  While that is true, wouldn't embryonic stem cell fundamental research be capable of advancing adult stem cell technologies?
  - andrewflnr 15y ago
    I see no reason to believe that. Advances in adult stem cell tech doesn't seem to have helped embryonic stem cell research. Why would it work in the other direction? Apparently there are significant differences. Anyway, we have little reason to try, give that adult stem cells are working and all the ethical, ah, difficulties with embryonic stem cells.
- pigbucket 15y ago
  >The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here. Some opponents have argued that stem-cell research is useless as well as, in the case of embryonic stem-cell research, ethically questionable. I take it the author's point is that now we can prove the general case: stem-cell research can lead to cures, and so disprove one of the (tactical) arguments of opponents. Rush Limbaugh at one point said embryonic stem-cell research in particular is useless, so he won't be bothered by this news.
  - lucasjung 15y ago
    I've never heard anybody argue against adult stem-cell research, but I suppose it's possible that somebody out there is making that argument. The only time I've heard people bring up adult stem cell research is to point out that all of the actual treatments derived from stem cell research to date have come from adult stem cell research, and that it is therefore more pragmatic to focus resources on adult stem cell research rather than directing any resources into embryonic stem cell research. Also, most of the arguments I've heard against embryonic stem-cell research acknowledge that it might in fact produce life-saving or life-changing treatments, but that it is nonetheless morally and/or ethically wrong. A literary parallel is Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas:" enormous good comes at the price of involuntary sacrifice on the part of a single innocent. Some conclude that the trade is morally and/or ethically acceptable because of all of the good that is obtained, which cannot be obtained by any other means; others conclude that the good obtained from the sacrifice does not justify the evil of the sacrifice.
  - hammock 15y ago
    This is by no means the first case of adult stem cells being used in a treatment.
- lotharbot 15y ago
  > The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph... It may be ignorance. It may also be intentional, glossing over the difference in order to try to weaken opposition to ESC research. Either way, it's an unfortunate blot on an otherwise solid article covering a tremendously interesting piece of news.
- jawns 15y ago
  NO ONE opposes stem-cell research using adult stem cells, which is what was used here. What the anti-stem cell research campaigns oppose is embryonic stem cell research, because it involves extracting cells from a human embryo, usually killing the embryo in the process. And given that adult stem cell research 1) is morally unobjectionable; 2) is yielding effective treatments; and 3) contains no rejection risk ... I cannot understand why so many have pressed so hard for embryonic stem cell research. Factor #3 alone ought to be enough to give ASCR the edge. Yet in the U.S., federal dollars have effectively been taken away from ASCR and given to ESCR.
invalidOrTaken 15y ago
I was flabbergasted to read that the new trachea grew in two days. Is this normal, or would they have had to put some sort of growth stimulant in the bioreactor? If I sound ignorant, it's because I am, and I'd love for someone more knowledgeable about biotech to set me straight.
- killerswan 15y ago
  Yeah, that is the most amazing part!
- hammock 15y ago
  tspiteri 3 hours ago | link The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.
  - sorbus 15y ago
    That's nice, but it doesn't answer the question of whether two days is a normal amount of time to grow a trachea or if they used a growth stimulant.
    - carbocation 15y ago
      The linked article basically answers the question. The physical shape of the trachea, carina, and right and left mainstem bronchi was created from glass. Over the course of two days, that glass became lined with the patient's cells. To be clear, the claim is not that the glass was replaced by human cells over the course of two days.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
        carbocation 15y ago
maeon3 15y ago
I would like to grow myself a new body from my own stem cells without a brain, and transplant my brain into it. With any luck I might be able to squeak out another 100 years with only my brain decaying at the original rate.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  Given that we seem to have reached a point that medicine can cause the body to outlive the brain's shelf-life (eg Alzheimer's and the like), I'm not sure your plan is going to work out that well for you.
  - Joakal 15y ago
    From my perception of death statistics for old people; it's diseases and cancer that may be said to kill, but it's lack of blood flow to the brain that kills.
    - killerswan 15y ago
      Yeah, IIRC, a lot of the apparent loss in brain function is really just cardiovascular.
      - dhughes 15y ago
        People tend to overlook the 'vascular' part. I've read some pretty disturbing examples of how some people have their bowels rot due to the blood flow in the artery (arteries?) becoming restricted or even blocked from supplying the bowels the same way arteries in the heart are but it's not as apparent as it is for the heart.
        killerswan 15y ago
        D: I've also heard things about how, for example, simply walking regularly for exercise can sometimes be more effective than chemotherapy.
  - 15y ago
tspiteri 15y ago
The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.
eps 15y ago
So they mention this being used for kids' surgeries. Would a replacement trachea grow with the rest of the body though?
- jamesbkel 15y ago
  My only-slightly-educated guess based off what I've read on this (read a few mentions of this story over the past week) is that while the child-sized trachea wouldn't just stop working/become disconnected, most likely there would be a later adult-sized replacement.
tgraydar 15y ago
This warms my heart. The one I 3-D printed just now.

79 points by martinshen 15y ago

The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here. That said, assuming his description of the technique is reasonably accurate (which, given the above-mentioned nonsense, is by no means certain), this sounds like an interesting and useful technique.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
esrauch 15y ago
While that is true, wouldn't embryonic stem cell fundamental research be capable of advancing adult stem cell technologies?
- andrewflnr 15y ago
  I see no reason to believe that. Advances in adult stem cell tech doesn't seem to have helped embryonic stem cell research. Why would it work in the other direction? Apparently there are significant differences. Anyway, we have little reason to try, give that adult stem cells are working and all the ethical, ah, difficulties with embryonic stem cells.
pigbucket 15y ago
>The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph is ridiculous. "Anti-stem cell research campaigns" are against use of embryonic stem cells. But the writer's own article indicates that adult stem cells were used here. Some opponents have argued that stem-cell research is useless as well as, in the case of embryonic stem-cell research, ethically questionable. I take it the author's point is that now we can prove the general case: stem-cell research can lead to cures, and so disprove one of the (tactical) arguments of opponents. Rush Limbaugh at one point said embryonic stem-cell research in particular is useless, so he won't be bothered by this news.
- lucasjung 15y ago
  I've never heard anybody argue against adult stem-cell research, but I suppose it's possible that somebody out there is making that argument. The only time I've heard people bring up adult stem cell research is to point out that all of the actual treatments derived from stem cell research to date have come from adult stem cell research, and that it is therefore more pragmatic to focus resources on adult stem cell research rather than directing any resources into embryonic stem cell research. Also, most of the arguments I've heard against embryonic stem-cell research acknowledge that it might in fact produce life-saving or life-changing treatments, but that it is nonetheless morally and/or ethically wrong. A literary parallel is Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas:" enormous good comes at the price of involuntary sacrifice on the part of a single innocent. Some conclude that the trade is morally and/or ethically acceptable because of all of the good that is obtained, which cannot be obtained by any other means; others conclude that the good obtained from the sacrifice does not justify the evil of the sacrifice.
- hammock 15y ago
  This is by no means the first case of adult stem cells being used in a treatment.
lotharbot 15y ago
> The ignorance the writer displays in the last paragraph... It may be ignorance. It may also be intentional, glossing over the difference in order to try to weaken opposition to ESC research. Either way, it's an unfortunate blot on an otherwise solid article covering a tremendously interesting piece of news.
jawns 15y ago
NO ONE opposes stem-cell research using adult stem cells, which is what was used here. What the anti-stem cell research campaigns oppose is embryonic stem cell research, because it involves extracting cells from a human embryo, usually killing the embryo in the process. And given that adult stem cell research 1) is morally unobjectionable; 2) is yielding effective treatments; and 3) contains no rejection risk ... I cannot understand why so many have pressed so hard for embryonic stem cell research. Factor #3 alone ought to be enough to give ASCR the edge. Yet in the U.S., federal dollars have effectively been taken away from ASCR and given to ESCR.

invalidOrTaken 15y ago

I was flabbergasted to read that the new trachea grew in two days. Is this normal, or would they have had to put some sort of growth stimulant in the bioreactor? If I sound ignorant, it's because I am, and I'd love for someone more knowledgeable about biotech to set me straight.

killerswan 15y ago
Yeah, that is the most amazing part!
hammock 15y ago
tspiteri 3 hours ago | link The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.
- sorbus 15y ago
  That's nice, but it doesn't answer the question of whether two days is a normal amount of time to grow a trachea or if they used a growth stimulant.
  - carbocation 15y ago
    The linked article basically answers the question. The physical shape of the trachea, carina, and right and left mainstem bronchi was created from glass. Over the course of two days, that glass became lined with the patient's cells. To be clear, the claim is not that the glass was replaced by human cells over the course of two days.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
      - carbocation 15y ago

maeon3 15y ago

I would like to grow myself a new body from my own stem cells without a brain, and transplant my brain into it. With any luck I might be able to squeak out another 100 years with only my brain decaying at the original rate.

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
Given that we seem to have reached a point that medicine can cause the body to outlive the brain's shelf-life (eg Alzheimer's and the like), I'm not sure your plan is going to work out that well for you.
- Joakal 15y ago
  From my perception of death statistics for old people; it's diseases and cancer that may be said to kill, but it's lack of blood flow to the brain that kills.
  - killerswan 15y ago
    Yeah, IIRC, a lot of the apparent loss in brain function is really just cardiovascular.
    - dhughes 15y ago
      People tend to overlook the 'vascular' part. I've read some pretty disturbing examples of how some people have their bowels rot due to the blood flow in the artery (arteries?) becoming restricted or even blocked from supplying the bowels the same way arteries in the heart are but it's not as apparent as it is for the heart.
      - killerswan 15y ago
        D: I've also heard things about how, for example, simply walking regularly for exercise can sometimes be more effective than chemotherapy.
- 15y ago

tspiteri 15y ago

The BBC site has a more detailed article from three days ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14047670 It says that the organ was made of glass in London, and then flown to Sweden and soaked for two days in a solution of the patient's stem cells.

eps 15y ago

So they mention this being used for kids' surgeries. Would a replacement trachea grow with the rest of the body though?

jamesbkel 15y ago
My only-slightly-educated guess based off what I've read on this (read a few mentions of this story over the past week) is that while the child-sized trachea wouldn't just stop working/become disconnected, most likely there would be a later adult-sized replacement.

tgraydar 15y ago

This warms my heart. The one I 3-D printed just now.