Thank You MS Society!

The National MS Society in the U.S. has finally updated their website to be a useful resource for information about HSCT. Thanks to petitions started by my HSCT buddies Heather and Gina, and all the great people  (including my family, friends and colleagues) who took the time to sign those petitions.  There have also been individuals writing letters to the MS Society. And there have been personal meetings with neurologists, general practitioner doctors, and MS Society executives. We got noticed!

Now the grassroots can become a groundswell. The MS Society reaches a huge audience. That means many more people will be aware of HSCT and its potential for treating aggressive, crippling forms of MS. This is huge! As Dr. Burt's Phase 3 trial data is reviewed by FDA in the coming years, it will make a difference for the reviewers to know that there is a significant population of patients who want HSCT treatment as an option for their MS care. No other known treatment has been shown to stop MS and lead to functional recovery as well as HSCT. For people who need it, there is nothing better.

An excerpt of HSCT information and the research trial is pasted below, followed by a link to the larger article about other types of stem cell research for MS.

Thank You!

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HSCT to Reboot the Immune System: One type of procedure that has been explored for several years in MS is called “autologous hematopoietic (blood cell-producing) stem cell transplantation -- or HSCT.” This procedure has been used in attempts to “reboot” the immune system, which is believed to launch attacks on the brain and spinal cord in people with MS.

In HSCT, these stem cells (derived from a person’s own bone marrow or blood) are stored, and the rest of the individual’s immune cells are depleted by chemotherapy or radiation or both. Then the stored stem cells are reintroduced usually by infusion into the vein. The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and over time produce new cells. Eventually they repopulate the body with immune cells. The goal of this currently experimental procedure is that the new immune cells will no longer attack myelin or other brain tissue, providing the person, what is hoped to be, a completely new immune system.

This approach is being investigated in Canada, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. For example:

• An international clinical trial of this procedure, being led by Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University in Chicago, is currently recruiting individuals who have not responded to other disease-modifying therapies. THIS TRIAL IS CURRENTLY RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS at its sites at Northwestern University, Rush University Medical Center, University of Sao Paulo, Uppsala University and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Read more about who may be eligible to participate.

Full article:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Research/Research-We-Fund/Restoring-What-s-Been-Lost/Repairing-Damaged-Tissues/Stem-Cells-in-MS