Stem-cell treatment for arthritis

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Stem cell researchers in Melbourne ready to begin human trials
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AM - Wednesday, 3 September , 2003 08:30:00
Reporter: Ben Knight
LINDA MOTTRAM: Adult stem cell researchers in Melbourne say that they're ready to begin human trials of a treatment they believe can rebuild bone and cartilage in arthritis sufferers. Trials in sheep have been successful and if that can be replicated in humans, it may make some hip and knee replacements unnecessary.

Ben Knight reports.

BEN KNIGHT: The idea of injecting stem cells into a human body to repair damage is not new. But making it work with a patient's own stem cells has been difficult because they're hard to find ? as rare is one in every 100,000 cells taken out of a patient's body.

But a Melbourne scientist has found a way to spot the stem cells among all the others, to isolate a them, and to multiply them, so that a massively concentrated dose of a patient's own cells can be injected back into their body.

The discovery was made by Associate Professor Paul Simmons, who heads the stem cell laboratory at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum institute. But it's through the CRC for Chronic Inflammatory diseases at the Royal Melbourne Hospital that the technique is about to be tested on arthritis patients.

The Director of Orthopaedics is Professor Stephen Graves.

STEPHEN GRAVES: This will make dramatic differences to orthopaedic surgery because we will be able to control and manipulate a person's own ability to repair damaged tissue.

BEN KNIGHT: Each year in Australia around 50,000 people have their hip or knee joints replaced. But almost a quarter of these operations eventually fail, and may have to be done again.

STEPHEN GRAVES: The problem that occurs when they fail is that that is usually associated with significant loss of the bone around the joint replacement, and this technology can be used to repair that.

BEN KNIGHT: That happens by simply regrowing the bone that has been damaged, by injecting stem cells directly into the area. And its developers say if it works, it will mean that hip and knee replacements should last the life of the patient.

But it's not just bone. Professor Graves says stem cells could also be used to grow new cartilage.

STEPHEN GRAVES: If we can develop situations where that cartilage can be repaired, those people will be able to avoid having joint replacements in the future.

BEN KNIGHT: But stem cells can potentially be used to repair any tissue in the human body. So why, instead of the spine, the brain, or other organs, is it being tested on arthritis patients?

STEPHEN GRAVES: The greatest cause of pain and disability within the Australian community are problems related to the Musculoskeletal system, and the most common of those is arthritis.

LINDA MOTTRAM: Professor Stephen Graves is Director of Orthopaedics at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Ben Knight reporting.

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but what do the children say?

Thank you!