Hundreds of clinical trials using stem cells aim to find for cures for conditions ranging from cancer to arthritis and genetic disorders to multiple sclerosis. Government and private industry are investing billions of dollars in pursuit of medical breakthroughs. While embryonic stem cells seem to attract the most media attention, the truth is there’s only a single human embryonic stem cell clinical trial recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That’s why the soonest breakthroughs won’t come from embryonic stem cells, but rather advances in adult stem cell technology.Embryonic stem cells are derived from human embryos. However, adult stem cells can be obtained from many tissues, including bone marrow, circulating blood, fat tissue, lining of the nose, and umbilical cord. Recent reports describe the conversion of skin cells to an embryonic-like stem cell state through genetic reprogramming, suggesting the potential for an almost unlimited source of embryonic-like cells in the future. While bone marrow transplants (a source of adult stem cells) have been around for decades, human stem cells were first isolated and characterized in a laboratory in 1992. Bone marrow transplantation has traditionally been used to restore bone marrow function and normal blood cell production following toxic doses of chemotherapy and radiation. The successful isolation of stem cells has allowed for the exploration of multiple uses of stem cell therapies to treat scores of different disorders and types of tissue regeneration.Promising clinical trials have been performed using adult stem cells to treat such medical problems as spinal cord injury, corneal damage, sickle cell disease, and multiple sclerosis. Two recent peer-reviewed publications from the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine and the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair reveal significant improvement in motor function in stem cell-treated patients compared to standard therapy in patients with the most severe spinal cord injuries. When adult stem cells are combined with an effective rehab program, 92% improved their impairment score compared to the expected 5% without stem cell treatment. In the so-called STAR study of patients who had experienced a myocardial infarction, adult stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic heart failure lived longer and had better cardiac function than those patients treated by conventional therapies. These benefits appear to be holding up out to five years of follow up. New stem cell trials for cardiac patients are proceeding in the U.S.Worldwide, corneal disease is the second leading cause of blindness after cataracts. Corneal transplants are the standard of care, but are rejected in 20% of cases. A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that adult stem cell transplantation was successful in 75% of 112 patients treated with severe corneal damage. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited genetic blood disorder that affects one in 500 African-Americans. About 72,000 people have sickle cell disease in the U.S. In a recent New England Journal of Medicine study, 10 adults were treated with stem cells from a brother or sister. Nine of the adults no longer had any symptoms of sickle cell disease four years after treatment. Another study published two years ago in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation found 6 of 7 children similarly treated were without sickle cell symptoms 2-8 years post treatment.In a study published last year in the British medical journal Lancet, patients with multiple sclerosis were treated with their own isolated stem cells and compared to those receiving conventional therapy – in this case interferon beta treatment. None of the stem cell-treated patients exhibited the normal progressive deterioration from their MS, and a significant functional improvement was noted in these patients. A similar study reported this year in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics found that six stem cell treatment patients showed significant improvement when their muscles were evaluated using electrophysiology measurement tools. Their condition had either stabilized or improved at the one year follow up period. It’s exciting to see such promising efforts using adult stem cell technology. The sheer volume of clinical trials underway offers the opportunity for further breakthroughs in stem cell therapy.See All House Calls by Dr. Geehr.