Stem cells are used today in the treatment of leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Aplastic Anemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, various other cancers, blood diseases, hereditary/genetic conditions and immune system disorders. There are approximately 1.4 million new cancer cases each year. As stem cell transplants become routine, they may be used to fight lung cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, AIDS and many genetic diseases.

Various types of chronic and acute leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphoma, myeloma, radiation poisoning, and some genetic diseases can be treated by stem cell transplantation.

The most promising use of stem cells is due to their ability to be modified into different functional adult cell types and serve as a potential source of replacement cells to treat numerous diseases.

The link below reflects all of the types of diseases that have treatments involving stem cell transplantation. Not all diseases amenable to stem cell transplantation have been treated specifically with cord blood stem cells. Some of the research currently being conducted using stem cells for treatment in cellular repair and regeneration are listed under Potential Future Stem Cell Applications.

A large number of diseases are capable of decreasing or interfering with the liver's function that's sufficient to threaten the life of the patient, like yourself. Most of these diseases are potentially treatable with liver transplantation. In adults, cirrhosis-which is a heavy accumulation of scar tissue due to the death of liver cells because of chronic viral hepatitis such as hepatitis C-is the most common disease for which liver transplantation is performed.

There are over 70 life-threatening diseases that may be treated by stem cell transplantation. Not all diseases amenable to stem cell transplantation have been treated specifically with cord blood stem cells. Tomorrow The promise of using stem cells for medical treatments has been the focus of research projects that are showing encouraging results.

Not in verifiable published studies. Some researchers in other countries have claimed success, but they have not published their results in a format that most scientists will accept. Embryonic stem-cell research is in the early stages. The first embryonic stem cells were isolated only recently -- in 1998, by Dr. James Thomson and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin. Federal funds for research on human embryonic stem cells were not available until 2001.

Blood cells grow in the same way as other human cells. They are developed in the bone marrow from a parent cell known as a “stem cell.” These stem cells begin to divide and mature until they are fully developed, forming all the different types of blood cells: white blood cells, platelets and red blood cells. Stem cells are usually found inside the bone marrow spaces of large bones, however, they can also travel from one bone to the other by way of the blood system.

Stem cells are primarily used in transplant medicine to regenerate a patient's blood and immune system after they have been treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy cancer cells. the same time the chemotherapy and radiation destroy the cancer cells in a patient, they also destroy stem cells. Therefore, an infusion of stem cells or a stem cell transplant is performed after the chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment.

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In spite of extensive tissue typing before transplantation, the patient may develop a reverse rejection reaction (GvHD). These reactions vary in intensity and can be treated with drugs. The GvHD (Graft versus Host Disease) has nothing to do with whether the donor's stem cells are faulty. It is rather the case that not all factors which lead to a GvHD have yet been identified by research.

least 70 diseases have been treated with stem cells. These include cancers (leukemias, lymphomas, myelomas), blood disorders (thalassemias, sickle cell anemia, Fanconi's anemia), immune deficiency diseases, genetic diseases and others. StemCyte has now supplied cord blood units for over 40 different life-threatening diseases.

long as the embryonic stem cells in culture are grown under certain conditions, they can remain undifferentiated (unspecialized). But if cells are allowed to clump together to form embryoid bodies, they begin to differentiate spontaneously. They can form muscle cells, nerve cells, and many other cell types. Although spontaneous differentiation is a good indication that a culture of embryonic stem cells is healthy, it is not an efficient way to produce cultures of specific cell types.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) are procedures that restore stem cells that have been destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. There are three types of transplants: In allogeneic transplants, patients receive stem cells from someone other than the patient or an identical twin. The patient's brother, sister, or parent may serve as the donor, or a person not related to the patient (an unrelated donor) may be used.

Embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated, meaning that they don't belong to one specific organ. They have the potential to generate any type of tissue in the body. The potential that embryonic stem cells present to scientists is immeasurable. There have already been promising findings in the field of Parkinson's research using embryonic stem cells in mice and monkeys.