Stem Transplants --The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) has published a preliminary survey into adult stem cell treatments currently being offered by 22 international clinics. The ICMS hope the results will become a resource for patients considering treatment. But they have faced criticisms for including in their analysis some unregulated stem cell treatments with unproven effectiveness.
Increasing numbers of clinics are offering unapproved stem cell treatments to patients who are prepared to travel large distances and pay substantial sums of money in the hope of a cure, according to Nature's Spoonful of Medicine blog. To give patients more information about these treatments and to help them make informed choices, the IMCS enrolled 22 international clinics in an independent survey. The advertised treatments are promoted as options for more than 70 ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's disease.
The IMCS is a nonprofit association who aim to aid the advancement of safe and effective stem cell therapies. They currently have over 200 medical professional members spread over 21 countries. The survey used their membership database by asking them to score the treatments on offer by cost versus the complexity of their techniques, such as cell processing and implantation.
'The concept was to compare the cost versus the complexity', said ICMS medical director and co-founder Christopher Centeno. 'The intent was not to evaluate other aspects of value, such as outcome versus cost'.
The IMCS subsequently established a treatment registry, which will enable the progress of the patients to be followed 20 years post-treatment. Currently six of the 22 clinics have signed up to the registry. The clinics will also have the opportunity to become fully accredited by the ICMS through this registry programme.
The survey has had mixed responses since its publication, according to Nature. Some condemned the inclusion of non-approved treatments in the analysis and others welcomed the chance to look at these treatments in more detail.
In 2009, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) launched a task force with the aim of listing all asserted stem cell therapies that are unsupported by published scientific evidence so patients knew where to place their trust. This too received mixed reviews with some patient groups wanting to have more information about the non-proven treatments.
Bernard Siegel, the executive director of the Florida-based nonprofit group Genetics Policy Institute supports the IMCS survey saying their reports always aim to have an objective view. 'They're actually trying to at least look at these clinics and offer a perspective', he said.
'The most important thing is to put the information out there so that patients and clinicians can look at it and make their own conclusions', said ICMS executive director David Audley. 'We're not making recommendations on any one of these clinics', he added. 'This is just the data that you as a consumer or a clinician need to look at'.
SOURCES & REFERENCES
Survey details stem cell clinics ahead of regulatory approval
Nature | 02 April 2010
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