http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20100802-229935.htmlStem-cell patient, 46, dies in BangkokHelpless and hopeless patients should be cautioned about stem cell therapy: doc. -The Nation/ANN
Mon, Aug 02, 2010
The Nation/Asia News Network
An end-stage kidney patient died after she received stem cell injections at a private clinic in Bangkok and developed complications, according to Thai and Canadian research published in the "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology".
"The case was reported as Thailand's first fatality caused by stem cell therapy," Duangpen Thirabanjasak, a researcher in the Department of Pathology at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, said yesterday.
The 46yearold woman had suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus for over 20 years with diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis.
In 2006, she went to the private clinic for stem cell therapy, where she was given multiple direct injections of autologous stem cells into the regions of both kidneys during a single visit.
Although no details of this treatment conducted by the private clinic were available, Duangpen said the woman's condition did not improve and six months later, the patient developed pain and hematuria in her left flank.
Duangpen said she examined the patient's kidney tissues and found abnormal cells called angiomyeloproliferative lesions at the injection site.
"The abnormality looked like a cluster of blood vessels and bone marrow cells," she said.
The development of an abnormality in the patient's kidney cells might be a complication from stem cell therapy, she said.
However, the results from several animal experiments studying various organs including kidneys have shown that therapy using autologous stem cells and other stem cells is safe, she said.
Now the public, especially helpless and hopeless patients, should be cautioned about stem cell therapy, she said.
In Thailand, physicians working in state and private hospitals have been using stem cell therapy to treat chronic diseases such as heart failure, Parkinson's and diabetes. But there is no proof yet that stem cell therapy can cure these diseases and there is a potential for harm to patients, she said.
According to the Medical Council, physicians would only be allowed to provide stem cell therapy that was based on scientific research and had been approved by the council as standard treatment.
However, the council has approved only one standard treatment - the transplanting of bone marrow to treat leukaemia. This has been used for more than 40 years.
Physicians providing stem cell therapy also will need to be certified by the Medical Council. Violators will have their medical licences revoked.
The Food and Drug Administration has also banned the advertising and sale of cosmetics containing stem cell material.
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