Everyone loves a good comeback story. Probably because it leaves us feeling inspired and full of hope. But the comeback story about a horse named Dream Alliance may do more than that: his experience promises to help people with Achilles tendon injuries get fully healed and back on their feet more quickly.

Dream Alliance

Dream Alliance was bred and raised in a very poor Welsh town in the United Kingdom. One of the villagers had the dream of owning a thoroughbred racehorse. She convinced a group of her fellow townsfolk to pitch in $15 dollars a week to cover the costs of training the horse. Despite his lowly origins, Dream Alliance won his fourth race ever and his future looked bright. But during a race in 2008, one of his back hoofs cut a tendon in his front leg. The seemingly career-ending injury was so severe that the horse was nearly euthanized.

It works in horses, how about humans?
Instead, he received a novel stem cell procedure which healed the tendon and, incredibly, the thoroughbred went on to win the Welsh Grand National race 15 months later – one of the biggest races in the UK that is almost 4 miles long and involves jumping 22 fences. Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in Liverpool developed the method and data gathered from the treatment of 1500 horses with this stem cell therapy show a 50% decrease in re-injury of the tendon.

It’s been so successful in horses that researchers at the University College of London and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital are currently running a clinical trial to test the procedure in humans.  Over the weekend, the Daily Mail ran a news story about the clinical trial. In it, team lead Andrew Goldberg explained how they got the human trial off the ground:

“Tendon injuries in horses are identical to those in humans, and using this evidence [from the 1500 treated horses] we were able to persuade the regulators to allow us to launch a small safety study in humans.”

Tendon repair: there’s got to be another way

Achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the heel bone

The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body and connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. It takes on a lot of strain during running and jumping so it’s a well-known injury to professional and recreational athletes but injuries also occur in those with a sedentary lifestyle. Altogether Achilles tendon injury occurs in about 5-10 people per 100,000. And about 25%-45% of those injuries require surgery which involves many months of crutches and it doesn’t always work. That’s why this stem cell approach is sorely needed.

The procedure is pretty straight forward as far as stem cell therapies go. Bone marrow from the patient’s hip is collected and mesenchymal stem cells – making up a small fraction of the marrow – are isolated. The stem cells are transferred to petri dishes and allowed to divide until there are several million cells. Then they are injected directly into the injured tendon.

A reason to be cautiously optimistic
Early results from the clinical trial are encouraging with a couple of the patients experiencing improvements. The Daily Mail article featured the clinical trial’s first patient who went from a very active lifestyle to one of excruciating ankle pain due to a gradually deteriorating Achilles tendon. Though hesitant when she first learned about the trial, the 46-year-old ultimately figured that the benefits outweighed the risk. That turned out to be a good decision:

“I worried, because no one had ever had it before, except a horse. But I was more worried I’d end up in a wheelchair. The difference now is amazing. I can do five miles on the treadmill without pain, and take my dog Honey on long walks again.”

The researchers aren’t exactly sure how the therapy works but mesenchymal stem cells are known to release factors that promote regeneration and reduce inflammation. The first patient’s positive results are just anecdotal at this point. The clinical trial is still recruiting volunteers so definitive results are still on the horizon. And even if that small trial is successful, larger clinical trials will be required to confirm effectiveness and safety. It will take time but without the careful gathering of this data, doctors and patients will remain in the dark about their chances for success with this stem cell treatment.

Hopefully the treatment proves to be successful and ushers in a golden era of comeback stories. Not just for star athletes eager to get back on the field but also for the average person whose career, good health and quality of life depends on their mobility.