Stem cell therapy has proven useful for boosting the body’s natural healing process, reducing inflammation, and alleviating issues like neuropathy, arthritis, and spinal conditions. But is there stem cell treatment for cancer? Some recent stem cell therapy discoveries have reflected a positive outlook for cancer treatment with stem cell therapy. If you’re wondering, “Can stem cell therapy cure my cancer?” read on to learn more about the possibilities.
The first important discovery, made by scientists at Cedars-Sinai, involves a protein expressed by blood stem cells. This protein, syndecan-2, can identify blood stem cells and regulate their function. Why is this important? Blood stem cells produce the blood cells and immune cells in our bodies, and they’re used to help treat people who have leukemia or lymphoma. The problem with this kind of treatment is that the type of stem cells necessary to implement it, hematopoietic stem cells, make up less than .01 percent of cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood. Because scientists have not yet found a good way to separate them from other stem cells, patients receiving this treatment get a few of the right kind of cells and a lot of other cells that may not be beneficial.
The scientists involved in the study extracted bone marrow cells from adult mice and ran the cells through a device that determines the different types of cells in the samples based on the proteins on their surfaces. When this process was completed, they discovered that hematopoietic cells have a high concentration of syndecan-2 on their surface. They also found that when stem cells with syndecan-2 were transplanted into mice that had been irradiated, their cells repopulated, but when the stem cells transplanted did not have syndecan-2, the cells stopped replicating. The conclusion they drew is that if doctors could transplant only cells with syndecan-2, the transplant would be more efficient and less toxic.
The second discovery they made had to do with the way blood vessels in the bone marrow react to injury. Radiation and chemotherapy can cause a patient’s blood counts to plummet, and it takes several weeks for them to reach their normal levels again. In the mice that had received radiation treatment, scientists found that the cells lining the inner walls of blood vessels produce a protein known as semaphoring 3A. This protein communicates with another protein, neuropilin 1, instructing it to kill damaged blood vessels. When either of those proteins were blocked, blood counts increased dramatically and quickly.
Ultimately, this is all good news. If scientists can determine ways to better control which type of stem cells are used in cancer treatment, this will make the treatment more effective. Using the right kinds of stem cells provides some of the most effective curative cancer treatment available. However, when non-differentiated stem cells are used, cancer can benefit from the stem cells natural replicating ability. By controlling the stem cells that are used, doctors will be closer to curing various types of cancer, using the body’s own healing processes.
If you’d like to know more about stem cell treatment for cancer, contact Oregon Medical Centers. Founded in 1989 as First Choice Chiropractic, Oregon Medical Centers was established in 2018 after adding Medical Providers and becoming an integrated medical facility. Specialists in treating car accident and workplace injuries, we also treat conditions like sciatica, pinched nerves, TMJ, neck and back pain, headaches, joint pain, and much more. We offer chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage, and regenerative medicine, and we specialize in diagnosing and treating chronic pain. Our dedicated medical team provides high-level care and compassion for patients in a collaborative environment where patients get the best possible treatment. What’s more, our insurance department assists in the insurance process, to alleviate stress for patients and allow them to focus on getting better. For information about the services we offer or to schedule an appointment, call (503) 390-1552 in Salem, (503) 642-2845 in Aloha, or contact us through our website.
