The Progress of Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer

The search to find out the reason of abnormal cell growth leading to cancer is on from decades, and medical science has made several advancements in this field, especially in the area of Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer. Stem cells have been used for reconstruction and immune-modulation in cancer treatment since a very long time. In Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer, patients receive healthy stem cells that form blood in their veins, and after the injection these stem cells move up to the bone marrow to replace the cells destroyed because of chemo therapy administered in cancer treatment. These cells primarily derived from umbilical cord, bloodstream or bone marrow of the patient or from a donor.

Categories of stem cells used

In Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer, the cells are categorized according to their origin. Therefore, the cells that come from the patients are known as autologous cells, and those coming from a donor are called allogeneic cells. The donor can either be a relative or someone else. The cells derived from identical twins are known as syngeneic cells. Out of these researchers prefer autologous cells because of the fewer chances of cells getting rejected by the patient’s immune system after being injected into the bloodstream.

How stem cells helps patients?

Until now, Stem Cell Therapy has not been able to reverse the formation of cancerous cells, but this therapy fights against cancer indirectly. Newly introduced stem cells helps a patient to regain their ability of producing stem cells after going through chemotherapy and radiation therapy. At present, some forms of cancer like leukemia can be directly cured with the help of Stem Cell Therapy. Surgeons use graft vs. tumor effect to treat some kinds of leukemia. This effect occurs as white blood cells taken from a donor attacks cancer cells following high dosage of treatments. Such an effect is also helpful in improving success rate of Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer.

The present and future of the treatment

Presently Stem Cell Therapy is used often for patients suffering from lymphoma and leukemia, and very soon might be used for multiple myeloma and neuroblastoma. The use of stem cell based therapies for treating other cancer types are being tested meticulously, so that people fighting this fatal disease can get a new lease of life. The major concern associated with Stem Cell Treatment for Cancer is the side effects. These side effects are not entirely because of administration of stem cells, but due to the high dosage of treatments that cancer patients go through prior to undergoing Stem Cell Therapy.

Some concerns to look for

Another major concern occurs when patients receive stem cells from donors, and the cells of the patient’s body identify the new cells and begin attacking them. This problem is known as graft vs. host disease. This is the reason why surgeons prefer using stem cells extracted from the patient only. The recovery process in this kind of therapy depends on the kind of transplant, doses received by the patient before stem cell transplant, the kind of cancer being treated, and also response of the patient towards the high doses of the treatment.

 

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