Hepatocytes for therapy and drug screening made from embryonic stem cells

How can I tell if the stem cell biotherapy offered to me is legitimate? I am seeking stem cell therapy as I am facing a liver transplant and have been contacted by Stem Cell Biotherapy Inc. in Agoura Hills,Ca. They are requesting 25,000 dollars up front for the theapy and I would have to go to Mexico for the treatment. Would appreciate any info on this you can give me.

See this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdH6Mm4w98I you may want to try Cellmedicine (medistem), they publish papers and apparently get results

how many papers has Stem Cell Biotherapy published?? type in "medistem" in pubmed.com and type in "Stem Cell Biotherapy" in pubmed and see who is the better stem cell company

Stem cell therapy for liver failure has been described in a paper from Iran with some success


Arch Iran Med. 2007 Oct;10(4):459-66.Links
Phase 1 trial of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.Mohamadnejad M, Alimoghaddam K, Mohyeddin-Bonab M, Bagheri M, Bashtar M, Ghanaati H, Baharvand H, Ghavamzadeh A, Malekzadeh R.
Digestive Disease Research Center, Medical Sciences/ Tehran University, Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND: The standard treatment for decompensated liver cirrhosis is liver transplantation. However, it has several limitations. Recent animal studies suggest that bone marrow stem cell transplantation can lead to regression of liver fibrosis. The objective of this study was to determine the safety and feasibility of autologous bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis. METHODS: In this phase 1 trial, four patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis were included. Their bone marrow was aspirated, mesenchymal stem cells were cultured, and a mean 31.73×106 mesenchymal stem cells were infused through a peripheral vein. Primary outcomes were evaluating the safety and feasibility of the work. Secondary outcomes were evaluating changes in the model for end-stage liver disease score, and the quality of life of the patients.RESULTS: There were no side-effects in the patients during follow-up. The model for end-stage liver disease scores of patients 1, and 4 improved by four and three points, respectively by the end of follow-up. Furthermore, the quality of life of all four patients improved by the end of follow-up. Using SF-36 questionnaire, the mean physical component scale increased from 31.44 to 65.19, and the mean mental component scale increased from 36.32 to 65.55.CONCLUSION: Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation seems to be feasible and safe in the treatment of decompensated liver cirrhosis.

For Mary Price:

I am a stem cell researcher, NIH funded, MD and PhD. I would suspect the therapy offered from Stem Cell Biotherapy is NOT legitimate. Asking for that kind of money and doing this in Mexico means this is not approved by the FDA in the US. Even investigational drugs and cells that are a legitimate trial would be okay in the US. There are many stem cell scams out there, this Stem Cell Biotherapy sounds like one.

It is hard to get and receive contact information on a site like this, but if there is a way to contact you directly (email), post here.

Dear DK,

Let me begin by asking who you think you are? You come on this blog, with a fake name, claiming to be NIH Funded MD PhD, and then start attacking clinics that YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST CAUZE THEY AINT GRINGO MEANS THEY ARE NOT LEGITIMATE? Shame on you

I replied to Mary Price's request regarding legitimacy of a therapy. It sounds fishy to me. If you (Debby Atkinson) are affiliated with that company and not disclosing that, then shame on you. What are your qualifications to objectively judge this therapy? If it is so wonderful, why don't they file an IND for a US trial. I am sure there is lots of interest in this type of therapy. However, I know of no viable treatments that came out of expensive clinics only available in Mexico- really does not sound like a credible set-up.

I assure you, my credentials are legitimate. However, with now this hostility, I won't publically give my name or contact information.

Is there a way to contact offline?

So what if I am or an not affiliated with the company? Why is it that LIVER FAILURE treated with bone marrow stem cells by the Japanese group is ok for publication in the "peer reviewed" journal Stem Cells (you claim you are an "ACADEMIC"...do you know what I am even talking about????) BUT WHEN PEOLPLE use stem cells in mexico all of a sudden its not legitimate?

What about companies such as Cellmedicine who have clinics outside the US and PUBLISH PAPERS...and post SCIENTIFIC information videos on youtube (search "cellmedicine" on www.youtube.com)...are they not legitimate either?

I love the USA. It is by far the best country in THE WHOLE WORLD...but just because no business model developed for Phase III trials in the USA ...and as a result no commercialization of autologous stem cell therapies has occurred...does this mean that everything outside of the USA dealing with stem cells is wrong?

I want your opinion oh NIH researcher. Is everything outside the USA not good????

To be frank, I really doubt that you are an "NIH funded" researcher anyways.

Dr. K, This is Mary. Please contact me at iris4848@comcast.net. I would like to talk to you.

i have transverse myelitis.. They want me to go out of the country for stem cell procedure.

Unfortunately Justin there are both good and bad clinics outside of the USA. You have to figure out which ones have publications and are legitimate scientists and which ones are outright SCAMS.

Take the Stem Cell Biotherapy guys mentioned above, they are a SCAM. I called them and they had NO IDEA ABOUT science. Then take the www.cellmedicine.com guys, they talk more science than anyway, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY they publish on a regular basis in scientific journals.

But you knkow the sad thing? people are ignormant and will always be ignorant.

The fact that stem cells are used for treatment of liver failure is not new. This can be done in many places outside of the US and I bet there are some trials ongoing inside the US. The question, which no one knows is whether the stem cells work with conventional approaches to hepatitis such as interferon.

Where in Mexico is the Cellmedicine clinic located?

The Cellmedicine clinic is at their website www.cellmedicine.com

They are NOT in Mexico !!

Well Steenblock, do you treat liver failure as well?

For Dan Tremblay,
After doing more search I found they do have a clinic in Mexico. They are affiliated with Medistem Inc. located in US. Medistem provides the technology and I think even stem cells for clinical use to the Mexican clinc.
https://www.cellmedicine.com/ICMClinicMexico.asp

If you think that a company is a scam, why don't you call and ask to talk to patients who have had treatment with them, or do ACTUAL research on the company. https://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=100044781.

Stem Cell Treatment is not FDA approved in the U.S. that is why it HAS to be done out of the country.

I wonder Emily, if you know that there are over 100 clinical trials of stem cells going on under the FDA jurisdiction...surely you must think that there is something to it, no? just go to www.clinicaltrials.gov and type in "stem cells"...i know a lot of stuff is about hematopoietic stem cells...which is not really "regenerative stem cell therapy" but if you look you can find trials using stem cells for cardiac, hepatic, and even diabetic conditions all being performed under the FDA.

by the way, what would the better business bureeu know about the validity of a stem cell clinic? that is pretty interesting way of looking at it...i mean how can BBB tell if a therapy will hurt or help people??????????????????????

The BBB can't tell if it's going to help or hurt people, everyone's body reacts differently to different treatments...What the BBB does tell is whether a company is legit or not.

What does legit mean?

Things don't look too up to date here, but you can certainly check out patients who have had treatment and what they think of certain stem cell clinics at www.stemcellpioneers.com  I am a moderator on the forum and having had stem cell treatment is a requirement to be a moderator. My stem cell mate and I started the forum because there is a lack of practical evidence for patients to evaluate elsewhere and virtually no forums for patient support for those that have had treatment.  Each company is claiming to have the best treatment and the best method of delivery. Papers can be written and published, but very few are peer reviewed, so these amount to not much more than press releases in many cases. As for Stem Cell Biotherapy, we have recently asked them not to participate in our forum. Their customer service has hit a new all time low and they refuse to give certification proof for cell screening. There is no hard scientific knowledge for most stem cell treatment at this time for treatment done outside the U.S. especially.  In the last 6 months there has been quite a lot of advancement in my opinion for the use of cells that can better target the area that needs healing. Each patient must research as best he or she can and learn to ask the right questions. Many of our members have had treatment and are always willing to help answer any questions anyone might have and to make suggestions on what they wished they had asked before treatment and didn't!  Please join us for patient commentary you will find no where else.

Jmatte whoever you are ..you guys definately are something else !!

Firstly do you even understand what this website is about?  Or are you trying to make money off sick people by offering them "hope"

I have looked at your website and it is sad that everything you talk about is so focused on peopls emotions and not facts

THERE ARE NO PEER REVIEWED PAPERS???  What the @#$ are you talking about?  Go to www.stemnow.com and see EVIDENCE  or see all the videos on the Cellmedicine channel on youtube or on www.cellmedicine.com '

the problem is that everyone is interesting in talking crap and no one wants to learn science or facts

Bashing Stem Cell Biotherapy will not help you either...I remember your site promoting them a couple months ago 

 

Guys, what do all these comments have to do with that subject of the patent that we are suppose to be discussing?  The patent is Geron making hepatocytes from embryonic stem cells, anybody have any input or discussions about that?

The one question I have is whether the hepatocytes generated are able to function in vivo and also how Geron hopes to overcome the issue of immune rejection.

I know that Geron states that embryonic stem cells are immune priviledged and this is fine, however, when the cells differentiate into tissues one would imagine that immune rejection would occur.  The approach of International Stem Cell is interesting.  They try to circumvent this issues by using parthenogenesis derived cells that have homozygous HLA alleles.  Using their approach it may be possible to generate a bank of approximately 200 cell lines that would be suitable for the whole population of the world.

The only question of course would be whether the parthenogenic embryonic stem cells are actually normal cells.  There is a role for imprinting and genomic equal contribution.  However most studies to date seem to suggest that parthenogenic derived ES cells function at an acceptable level, well last time I checked and im no expert in this.