First Ips Clinical Trial For Spinal Injuries
Japanese researchers have started accepting patients for a clinical trial aimed at repairing spinal cord injuries by using induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.
Two Keio University professors, Okano Hideyuki and Nakamura Masaya, are heading the research team.
They plan to transplant about two million iPS-derived cells into a total of four patients aged 18 or older who have lost their mobility and sensory functions. The surgery will be performed within two to four weeks of the accident that caused the injury.
The team says the patients will be closely monitored to test the safety and effectiveness of the treatment over a one-year period.
The team says there are around 5,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries every year in Japan. It says this will be the world's first clinical trial to use iPS cells to treat such injuries.
Okano says the patients for this trial have only recently suffered injuries, but making a step forward is an important thing to do.
Nakamura said he is grateful that the research is finally getting underway, and he will do his best to accelerate the use of regenerative medicine as a form of treatment.