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Stem-cell ‘miracle’ thriving
Doctors expect the bone marrow stem-cell transplant procedure will prove
useful for hundreds of sufferers, especially infants
CHARLIE FIDELMAN
The Gazette
Sunday, December 05, 2004
CREDIT: MARIE-FRANCE COALLIER, THE GAZETTE
Ahmed Galal examines patient Genevieve Claveau, who underwent experimental surgery in August.
Three months ago, Genevieve Claveau was in a wheelchair, unable to walk or feed herself and dying from a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis.
Today, Claveau, 23, is up and running, hiking Mont Tremblant, working full time and loving every second of her new life.
“It’s a bit of a miracle,” said Claveau, who underwent an experimental bone marrow stem- cell transplant at the Royal Victoria Hospital in August to treat Still’s disease, a rare disorder that affects about one person in 100,000.
The transplant is actually an infusion of her own stem cells, culled from her blood, purified and then reinjected.
It’s a first in Quebec. Doctors expect the procedure will prove useful for hundreds of those suffering from debilitating autoimmune illnesses - but especially infants - who respond poorly to conventional drug therapy.
“We hope it will lead to other transplants for rheumatoid arthritis,” McGill University Health Centre rheumatologist Jiri Krasny said. "It’s a very devastating disease.
“But any inflammatory arthritis would be a possibility, even in children as young as one-year old,” Krasny said.
Claveau’s symptoms began nearly two years ago: chronic fever, skin rashes, swollen painful joints, extreme fatigue, anemia and weight loss.
To quell the inflammation, she needed large doses of the steroid drug prednisone, which puffed up her face.
Causes of the autoimmune disease - when the body attacks itself - are as yet unknown.
But had the disease progressed to cause liver and heart damage, Claveau would have died, said McGill hematologist Ahmed Galal.
Galal, the director of the MUHC bone marrow transplant unit, was treating Claveau for severe anemia. Concerned that she wasn’t responding well to medication, Galal suggested a bone marrow stem-cell transplant.
“When you live with the pain it’s hard to say no to that kind of cure,” Galal said. The procedure involved stimulating Claveau’s production of bone marrow stem cells with a hormone.
She was then hooked up to a machine, similar to dialysis, that collected stem cells from her blood stream for about for six hours.
“If we don’t get the magic number (of stem cells) we subject them to another six hours,” Galal said. But in Claveau’s case, the first sample was perfect.
That sample was treated to remove the immune cells that caused her original arthritis problem. Claveau was then given a round of chemotherapy to suppress her body’s T-lymphocytes or immune cells.
When two rheumatologists argued against the procedure because it’s been done perhaps six times worldwide, Claveau sought the advice of her own doctor.
"There was some reluctance,’’ Krasny said. “It’s experimental, it’s known to work in other conditions but not necessarily hers. It came down to her determination. She has done very well.”
In fact, Claveau recovered faster than expected. “One infusion, 10 million stem cells,” Claveau said happily. “I’m counting my days. Day Zero was Aug. 31, and I still have no pain. I feel so light, as if I’m walking on a cloud.”
Claveau would like to see others benefit from the same procedure. “Everyone should know that we can cure with stem cells. It’s not just good for me but for others with rheumatoid arthritis.”
cfidelman@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004
c
Stem-cell ‘miracle’ thriving
Doctors expect the bone marrow stem-cell transplant procedure will prove
useful for hundreds of sufferers, especially infants
CHARLIE FIDELMAN
The Gazette
Sunday, December 05, 2004
CREDIT: MARIE-FRANCE COALLIER, THE GAZETTE
Ahmed Galal examines patient Genevieve Claveau, who underwent experimental surgery in August.
Three months ago, Genevieve Claveau was in a wheelchair, unable to walk or feed herself and dying from a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis.
Today, Claveau, 23, is up and running, hiking Mont Tremblant, working full time and loving every second of her new life.
“It’s a bit of a miracle,” said Claveau, who underwent an experimental bone marrow stem- cell transplant at the Royal Victoria Hospital in August to treat Still’s disease, a rare disorder that affects about one person in 100,000.
The transplant is actually an infusion of her own stem cells, culled from her blood, purified and then reinjected.
It’s a first in Quebec. Doctors expect the procedure will prove useful for hundreds of those suffering from debilitating autoimmune illnesses - but especially infants - who respond poorly to conventional drug therapy.
“We hope it will lead to other transplants for rheumatoid arthritis,” McGill University Health Centre rheumatologist Jiri Krasny said. "It’s a very devastating disease.
“But any inflammatory arthritis would be a possibility, even in children as young as one-year old,” Krasny said.
Claveau’s symptoms began nearly two years ago: chronic fever, skin rashes, swollen painful joints, extreme fatigue, anemia and weight loss.
To quell the inflammation, she needed large doses of the steroid drug prednisone, which puffed up her face.
Causes of the autoimmune disease - when the body attacks itself - are as yet unknown.
But had the disease progressed to cause liver and heart damage, Claveau would have died, said McGill hematologist Ahmed Galal.
Galal, the director of the MUHC bone marrow transplant unit, was treating Claveau for severe anemia. Concerned that she wasn’t responding well to medication, Galal suggested a bone marrow stem-cell transplant.
“When you live with the pain it’s hard to say no to that kind of cure,” Galal said. The procedure involved stimulating Claveau’s production of bone marrow stem cells with a hormone.
She was then hooked up to a machine, similar to dialysis, that collected stem cells from her blood stream for about for six hours.
“If we don’t get the magic number (of stem cells) we subject them to another six hours,” Galal said. But in Claveau’s case, the first sample was perfect.
That sample was treated to remove the immune cells that caused her original arthritis problem. Claveau was then given a round of chemotherapy to suppress her body’s T-lymphocytes or immune cells.
When two rheumatologists argued against the procedure because it’s been done perhaps six times worldwide, Claveau sought the advice of her own doctor.
"There was some reluctance,’’ Krasny said. “It’s experimental, it’s known to work in other conditions but not necessarily hers. It came down to her determination. She has done very well.”
In fact, Claveau recovered faster than expected. “One infusion, 10 million stem cells,” Claveau said happily. “I’m counting my days. Day Zero was Aug. 31, and I still have no pain. I feel so light, as if I’m walking on a cloud.”
Claveau would like to see others benefit from the same procedure. “Everyone should know that we can cure with stem cells. It’s not just good for me but for others with rheumatoid arthritis.”
cfidelman@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004
There was an interesting discussion over at National Review ONline about how adult-stem cell research is being deliberately ignored because it can’t help justify abortion, which many pro-embyonic stem cell folks have a vested interest in justifying, outside of the stem cell debate