September 2006 Archives
Bien por el ISSTE.
Respecto a Cyocell:
Treinta mil cordones almacenados en Cryocell....
Cobran de inscripción $890 us. (plan basico 1 año) y luego $109.25 us. anuales.
Llevan por lo menos ingresos de 26.7 millones de dolares de inscripciones!!
Y tambien ingresos de casi 3.3 millones de dólares por almacenamiento anual!!
Nada mal!
Y aparte su costo es casi NADA. Invierten en unos refrigeradores, bolsas, agujas, mesajeria y eso es todo...
De esos 30 mil cordones seguramente han usado menos de 10, probablemente solamente UNO (el de la nota de abajo).
Las preguntas que yo le hago a Cryo-cell son:
Porque no hacen un registro publico?
Que porcentaje de sus ingresos lo usan para investigación en tratamientos médicos con celulas madre?
Venden almacenaje de 21 años. A un paciente de 21 años no le alcanza la cantidad de celulas madre en un cordon umbilical (tamaño vs. cantidad de celulas). Que estan haciendo al respecto?
Que quimico usan para conservar las celulas y que efecto tiene en los pacientes?
Implantan células madre a pequeña
Por Guillermo Cárdenas
Combate el ISSSTE por primera vez la leucemia con material del cordón umbilical
Por primera vez en su historia, el ISSSTE registró una operación exitosa mediante la cual se trasplantaron células madre congeladas, procedentes de cordón umbilical, a una niña de 5 años afectada por leucemia linfoblástica aguda.
Con esa intervención, efectuada el 20 de junio por un equipo de hematólogos del Hospital 20 de Noviembre, encabezados por el doctor Mauricio González Avante, la pequeña Kenlui Sánchez Brito, que recibió las células de su hermana menor Ilse Zareth, ha logrado sobrevivir a esa variedad de cáncer de la sangre, que deteriora la función normal de la médula ósea.
Las células madre, que se obtuvieron del cordón umbilical en el nacimiento de Ilse Zareth, el año pasado, recibieron un tratamiento de crio-preservación por parte de la empresa Cryocell, consistente en su purificación y almacenamiento a temperaturas de 192 grados bajo cero mediante nitrógeno líquido.
"El resultado es producto de un gran esfuerzo institucional de un grupo de médicos que han estudiado y realizado este tipo de trasplantes, y para el ISSSTE significa el primer trasplante de células madre obtenidas de cordón umbilical", comentó el doctor Salvador Gaviño Ambriz, director del Hospital 20 de Noviembre.
El galeno participó en una rueda de medios efectuada ayer en el marco del 50 Congreso Mexicano de Ginecología y Obstetricia, en el Centro Banamex, donde también estuvieron presentes los directores general y del área metropolitana de la empresa Cryocell, Samuel Alvo y Rafael E. Ávila Palafox, así como los padres de la niña intervenida, José Luis Sánchez y Kendi Brito.
Gaviño reconoció que hace muchos años los expertos en este campo eran escépticos respecto al potencial de las células madre de cordón umbilical y la necesidad de almacenarlas.
"Pero el paso del tiempo ya nos dio una prueba viviente de su utilidad y seguimos estudiándolas", dijo.
El médico consideró que lo importante del congelamiento de células del cordón umbilical "es que demuestra que es potencialmente viable utilizarlas, en este caso para el tejido que produce la sangre, pero en el futuro podrían usarse para el tratamiento de afecciones cardiacas, mediante inyecciones en zonas infartadas o para formar vasos sanguíneos en las extremidades que corren riesgo de ser amputadas, al igual que en problemas como Mal de Parkinson y diabetes mellitus", precisó.
Por su parte, el doctor Rafael Ávila explicó que mediante la criopreservación, -que la empresa Cryocell realiza en sus instalaciones de Guadalajara en "búnkers" blindados donde se resguardan 30 mil muestras de sangre de cordón umbilical- es posible conservar las células por 21 años, hasta el momento que son requeridas.
"Todo salió muy bien gracias a Dios y nos sentimos muy contentos por estos avances de la tecnología", comentó el padre de Kenlui, quien con la técnica (que aún no se aplica en hospitales privados) ha logrado asimilar las células de su hermana y normalizar la función de su médula ósea.
Segunda causa de muerte
El cáncer constituye la segunda causa de muerte en niños de entre 4 y 15 años, y la leucemia aguda linfoblástica es la variedad más frecuente.
En esta enfermedad, la médula ósea es invadida por células malignas, lo cual interfiere con su funcionamiento normal y la formación de glóbulos rojos, blancos y plaquetas en la sangre.
Por tal razón, la pequeña Kenlui, a quien le había sido aplicada quimioterapia sin muchas esperanzas de recuperación, fue tratada con las células provenientes del cordón umbilical de su hermana Ilse Zareth.
Matt Cyr from Children's Hospital Boston Dream Magazine just published a "Then and Now" article about Andy & Sofia.
The online version or the article can be found here.
The fall isue of Dream Magazine is here.
Images and text:
On October 29, 2004, Andy Treviño received millions of tiny gifts from his then-7-month-old sister, Sofia. They were stem cells, pulled from her bone marrow in the hope of repairing Andy's tattered immune system and curing his potentially fatal immune deficiency.Andy's journey was featured in last summer's Dream magazine, and it's been quite a year since. At first Andy couldn't be around a lot of other people, but as his new immune system took hold, he began to venture out. First, a special classroom, with just him and his teacher. Then a Red Sox game, a trip to Disneyland and, finally, after more than 650 days in the hospital, Andy went to school in a regular classroom.
Today he loves physical education class, recess and just being around "regular kids" without the specter of doctors, nurses and medical procedures.
He went to birthday parties, had his own at a local gym where he and 20 other children played baseball, and had his first playdate with a girl from his class.
Andy's father, Andrés, summed up best how their lives have changed since October 2004: "Now, instead of having to run to the emergency room, we run to soccer practice and tee ball games. It's incredible to hear how everyone cheers for him. 'He's very good,' one of the other parents told me, and I thought, 'WOW, and he doesn't know what he's been through to be able to swing that bat!'"
Kevin Harris from Wales, England emailed me last week telling me that his son Rhys has NEMO.
I created a website (www.cure4rhys.org) for Rhys.
Heres the introduction:
Rhys got diagnosed NEMO around about April last year.
He has always been back and forth hospital since he was nine months old, he got meningitus which caused him to become profoundly deaf, then he had three bouts of pnuemonia.
Then last year he just constantly kept spiking tempratures and nothing the hospital he was in could do, so they transferred him to a childrens hospital close by and done all the tests under the sun thinking it may be a cancer. They found he had contracted TB avium and after further inspection they also diagnosed NEMO.
For a year now they have contained them both I give Rhys Vivaglobin subcontaneously at home and a sub cut of gamma interferon 3 times a week.
Recently Rhys went into hospital spiking uncontrollable temps, again more tests but this time they found the TB to be in his blood and lymph nodes.
As I am sure is the same with you over the past years we have befriended a lot of the Consultants and Nurses by now, and we all had a meeting, thinking it was routine... The mixture of NEMO and TB is not good and his longevity of life is under 1 year continuing the drug regime his is on now.
To get through this and have any sort of decent lifespan he needs a BMT.... Consultants from all over the world have been contacted and we flew to meet a Dr Mario Abinum a little while ago, the prospects of him surviving the Chemo and BMT are around 30% if we get a good match.
At this moment Rhys is fantastic, CRP down to 29 when it was 239, and as I type this he is next conquering the world with his little brother Morgan on the Playstation and all I can hear is laughter. A smile and a laugh hopefully will help him get through the coming months.From Kevin, Dawn, Rhys and Morgan
GO RHYS!
Other boys with NEMO are:
Last Sunday I walked at the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. Andy is a patient of the Jimmy Fund Clinic because all of his stem cell transplant specialists work there. The Jimmy Fund specializes in cancer and cancer related diseases but they also see patients with primary immune deficiency.
I walked twenty six point two miles following the same route of the Boston Marathon. More than two thousand people walked to find a cure for cancer and cancer related diseases.
While I was walking I could only think of one thing,
RESEARCHERS, SPECIALISTS and DOCTORS BETTER FIND A CURE FOR CANCER AND CANCER RELATED DISEASES AS SOON AS I REACH THE FINISH LINE!
My feet did hurt and I still have some blisters.
I also thought,
IF I HAD MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE WALKING AND RAISING FUNDS TO HELP ME DO MY JOB... I WOULD BE EXTREMELY MOTIVATED...
And then I thought,
THE SOLUTION MIGHT BE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM...
And I went further,
The definition of cancer as I understand it is any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division. And a healthy immune system should prevent any uncontrolled cell division. Healthy bone marrow stem cells (among others) should produce healthy immune system cells. Doctors should focus their research on ways to find healthy stem cells that produce a healthy immune system that prevents uncontrolled cell division.
It may just be that simple: Substitute unhealthy stem cells.
