Stem cell treatment for Crohn’s disease shows promise

Sometimes when all of the traditional treatment options don’t work to decrease the symptoms of or otherwise treat a chronic condition, it can seem hopeless.  Many individuals have to try various medications and/or alternative treatments before finding the one that works for them.  It can be discouraging and often time consuming.  Fortunately for those living with Crohn’s disease, who have been unable to find relief in more conventional treatment options, there is renewed hope in an experimental stem cell treatment manufactured by Celgene Corporation.  In a small, new study, individuals who have not responded to other treatment options showed improvement when injected with Celgene’s stem cell treatment.

In the study of twelve Crohn’s patients, each was given an infusion of PDA-001 treatment twice over a two week period.  The participants had moderate to severe Crohn’s disease and had not responded to at least one prior therapy.  Moreover, six of the participants were given a lower dose of the treatment, while the other six were provided with a higher dose.  The study, according to Reuters, met its safety goal and resulted in some clinical benefits among the participants, including remission of four of the patients in the low dose group.  The company was encouraged by these results and felt that the outcome of the study gave credence to further research on this and other tissue treatments for Crohn’s and other chronic and (currently) incurable diseases.

This particular treatment is also encouraging because the stem cells are harvested from full term placental tissue, rather then the controversial embryonic stem cells.  These types of cells are thought to be able to treat illness and disease like no other therapies currently available.  With this particular treatment resulting from full term human placenta, it is unlikely that it will receive the same opposition as embryonic cells and can move forward in research and treatment more easily.

This is encouraging news for the thousands of Crohn’s sufferers who cannot rely on any relief for their disorder.  An interesting problem that may arise from this type of treatment is whether periods of remission will impact whether a person can seek social security disability benefits.  It can be assumed that, like multiple sclerosis, even though a disease may be in remission, a person is still considered to have the disease or disability.  As such, as long as the symptoms are recorded and the remission periods are also notated, it is likely that an Administrative Law Judge will take it under consideration, but will recognize that a person is still disabled by law.  It will, however, be an interesting trend to follow if this type of stem cell treatment becomes more widespread and readily available.