User talk:Ellismi

Stem Cell Treatments – Type 1 Diabetes ( Alexa)

There are currently no consistently successful stem cell treatments for type 1 diabetes, though several are being developed. Because Type 1 is caused by the malfunction of the insulin-producing â cells of the pancreas, located on the islets of Langerhans, treatments or cures are focused on the regeneration of these cells. Research suggests that â cells do not have their own (adult) stem cells. However, stem cells generated from the patient's own hematopoietic bone marrow cells have been used in an attempt to regrow the Islet cells in newly diagnosed patients. Ideally this would create stem cells and regenerated Islet cells that are genetically part of the patient, reducing the risk of graft-versus-host immune attack and the need for immune suppression. The majority of patients treated were able to be insulin-independent for a prolonged, but finite length of time. Embryonic stem cells have also been used to grow new â cells that could be implanted into the patient. This could be particularly helpful in patients who have been insulin-dependent for an extended length of time – meaning their â cells are almost certainly completely non-functional. However, immune suppression would be necessary for the success of this treatment, as new â cells grown from another organism's embryonic stem cells would trigger an immune attack. Mouse â cells have been successfully grown from embryonic stem cells, but so far they have been unsuccessful in producing insulin.

Stem Cell Treatments – Cancer Stem Cells

In recent years scientists have been researching the roles of so-called cancer stem cells in tumors. Cancer stem cells share traits with normal stem cells including asymmetric division, quiescence, self-renewal ability multi-drug resistance, and use these traits to drive tumor growth and evade cancer therapies. Since these cells are thought to be responsible for the proliferation of tumors, it is important that they are targeted for removal via chemotherapy in addition to growing and differentiating tumor cells that are not able to produce new cells. For example, imagine a chemotherapy treatment that removed all tumor cells except for a single cancer stem cell. The persistence of this cell could would to continued growth of the tumor. However, the elimination of exclusively cancer stem cells from a tumor would lead to the eventual death of the other non-immortalized tumor cells over time.

Cancer Treatments continued (Leukemia)

The treatment of leukemia through the usage of stem cells revolves around the central treatment of the bone marrow transplant. As leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells it is difficult to treat. Treatment centers upon chemotherapy which destroys the hemapoetic stem cells residing within bone marrow. The destruction of bone marrow results in a loss of white and red blood cells, thus causing a vast loss in immune response and anemia. Thus even if the cancer is cured the cost to the body is so high that the treatment would not be worth the attempt. However, with stem cell transplant these symptoms can be allievated by replacing the hemapoetic stem cells and bone marrow that are lost. There are two major types of stem cell transplants: autologous and allogenic. Autologous transplantation uses the patient's own marrow. The marrow is collected while the patient is in remission, and it may be treated with chemotherapy agents or monoclonal antibodies before being given back. Such procedures cleanse the marrow of the small proportion of leukemia and lymphoma cells that might still be present. An allogenic transplant uses marrow from a donor, usually a brother or sister with the same tissue type as the patient.