Stem Cell Therapy May Cure Incontinence

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Stem Cell Therapy May Cure Incontinence

Perhaps as early as next year, a person suffering from incontinence

will be able to undergo a procedure in which cells from his or her own

body are used to repair muscles in weakened bladders or damaged

sphincters.

" We are ready to go, " said Dr. Chancellor, professor of

urology and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh. " We have shown

that this works in animals in several studies. Now we are waiting on

approval to start human treatments from the Food and Drug

Administration and our own institutions. "

Chancellor and colleagues presented several studies explaining how

they were able to make stem cells develop into smooth muscle cells and

repair damaged organs in mice. Now, he said at a press briefing during

the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, it is time

to bring the procedure to people.

He said about 17 million people in the United States, mainly women,

suffer from incontinence, an inability to control their damaged

bladders or sphincter muscles. Embarrassing failures may occur

unexpectedly -- often when a person laughs or sneezes.

Here's how the procedure would work, Chancellor explained:

A small surgical biopsy would be performed in the person's arm

muscle. The cells would then be separated by scientists searching for

about 100 stem cells -- special cells that can develop into different

types of muscular cells. Chancellor said that in 1,000 cells perhaps

he can find one stem cell. These isolated stem cells are then

incubated in culture until millions of them have been grown, a process

that takes about a month.

The patient then returns to the doctor's office where, using fiber

optic devices, the doctor will locate precisely the damaged area of

the sphincter muscle. Using a syringe, he'll inject the stem cells

into the damaged area, and then send the patient home.

The whole in-office procedure could be completed in 10 minutes.

" It will take about three weeks for the stem cells to link up and

build a solid fiber of muscle, " Chancellor said. If the stem cells

form into smooth muscle cells, as they have in animal models, the

patient's incontinence will be cured, he asserted.

The treatment avoids several problems that currently trouble stem

cell research, Chancellor noted.

It utilizes cells from the person's own body, greatly reducing the

risk that the transplanted stem cells will be rejected by the body's

immune system.

By using cells from the patients themselves and not from fetal or

embryonic tissue, this approach avoids the ethical, political and

religious issues that have slowed down such research.

The stem cells that have been coaxed into repairing the sphincter

-- and may some day be used to rebuild bladders -- appear to grow only

to fill the role required in the repair activity. The cells do not

keep growing uncontrollably, Chancellor said.

He said that now the major roadblock to performing the procedure in

humans is a reluctance of his institution to be directly involved in

the human experiments. Establishing a startup, biotechnology company

to conduct the clinical trials is being considered. Chancellor and

others hold patents involved in parts of the procedure.

" This is the wave of the future, " said Dr. Brady, chairman

of the media committee of the AUA. " This is real, and has the

potential to help a lot of people. "

Brady, also a clinical professor of surgery at the University of

Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, said, " This is extremely exciting

research. " He anticipated, however, that the work will still generate

controversy. " Whenever you mention stem cell research, there are

people who become concerned even if this doesn't involve tissue [from]

outside one's own body. "

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