THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Photo: Jessica Lewis Virtual reality may soon be used to treat cancer patients who are recovering from stem cell procedures. Healthcare technology company Rocket VR Health—in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital—is developing a virtual reality (VR) therapy that intends to enhance the quality of life of … Continue reading How a health tech company is using virtual reality to treat stem cell patients
Blood cancers
Stem Cell Agency Board Invests in Therapy Targeting Deadly Blood Cancers
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Dr. Ezra Cohen, photo courtesy UCSD Hematologic malignancies are cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes and include different forms of leukemia and lymphoma. Current treatments can be effective, but in those patients that do not respond, there are few treatment options. Today, … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Invests in Therapy Targeting Deadly Blood Cancers
Two CIRM supported studies highlighted in Nature as promising approaches for blood disorders
Blood stem cells (blue) are cleared from the bone marrow (purple) before new stem cells can be transplanted.Credit: Dennis Kunkel Microscopy/SPL Problems with blood stem cells, a type of stem cell in your bone marrow that gives rise to various kinds of blood cells, can sometimes result in blood cancer as well as genetic and … Continue reading Two CIRM supported studies highlighted in Nature as promising approaches for blood disorders
Stem cell progress and promise in fighting leukemia
Computer illustration of a cancerous white blood cell in leukemia. There is nothing you can do to prevent or reduce your risk of leukemia. That’s not a very reassuring statement considering that this year alone almost 62,000 Americans will be diagnosed with leukemia; almost 23,000 will die from the disease. That’s why CIRM is funding … Continue reading Stem cell progress and promise in fighting leukemia
How a see-through fish could one day lead to substitutes for bone marrow transplants
Human blood stem cells For years researchers have struggled to create human blood stem cells in the lab. They have done it several times with animal models, but the human kind? Well, that’s proved a bit trickier. Now a CIRM-funded team at UC San Diego (UCSD) think they have cracked the code. And that would … Continue reading How a see-through fish could one day lead to substitutes for bone marrow transplants
Stem Cell Agency Board Approves 50th Clinical Trial
May 4th, 2011 marked a landmark moment for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). On that day the Stem Cell Agency’s Board voted to invest in its first ever clinical trial, which was also the first clinical trial to use cells derived from embryonic stem cells. Today the Stem Cell Agency reached another landmark, … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Approves 50th Clinical Trial
Mechanical forces are the key to speedy recovery after blood cancer treatment
Blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, are projected to be responsible for 10% of all new cancer diagnoses this year. These types of cancers are often treated by killing the patient’s bone marrow (the site of blood cell manufacturing), with a treatment called irradiation. While effective for ridding the body of cancerous cells, this … Continue reading Mechanical forces are the key to speedy recovery after blood cancer treatment
New stem cell approach targeting deadly blood cancers
Every four minutes someone in the US is diagnosed with a blood cancer. It might be lymphoma or leukemia, myeloma or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). While we have made great strides in treating some of these over the years, we still have a long way to go. Need proof? Well, every nine minutes someone in the US … Continue reading New stem cell approach targeting deadly blood cancers
Sonic Hedgehog provides pathway to fight blood cancers
For a lot of people Sonic Hedgehog is a video game. But for stem cell researcher Dr. Catriona Jamieson it is a signaling pathway in the body that offers a way to tackle and defeat some deadly blood cancers. Dr. Jamieson - a researcher at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - has a … Continue reading Sonic Hedgehog provides pathway to fight blood cancers
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: young blood, cord blood, and blood cancers
Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. Pinning down young blood’s rejuvenating power. A trio of studies in the past week provided more evidence that giving older mice the blood of younger … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: young blood, cord blood, and blood cancers
The Stem Cellar 