First it was our bovine friends (see What do Baby Cows and Stem Cells Have in Common?) but now the latest stem cell miracle treatment is based on bunnies.
Recent media attention has focused on an organisation known as Stem Cell Biomedics who, along with two partners groups MFIII and Fetal Cell Technologies International, are advertising information seminars in Perth and Sydney on “Stem Cell Therapy – Fetal Precursor Cells, Swiss Cellular Therapy and Holistic Cancer Therapies” for both physicians and patients.
According to the available advertising materials, the treatments being offered appear to involve the injection of cells from rabbit fetuses into the patients skin. I say appear because the information available on the organisations’ websites on the actual procedure is somewhat vague. The Stem Cell Biomedics website states that the treatment restores tissues and organs by stimulating the injured cells during the healing process. The diseases that the companies are offering to treat are wide ranging and varied, from menopause and impotency to neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and MS, and there are many others.
Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of animal cells or organs into humans and has been banned in Australia until only recently. The ban was lifted as the Government concluded that the risks, if appropriately regulated, are acceptable given the potential benefits. However, clinical trials are still not currently permitted in Australia as robust regulatory and surveillance frameworks are still being established. Of course some animal devices, such as pig heart valves, have been used in humans for many years, but the key difference is that these devices are treated so they contain no living cells. For more information on xenotransplantation in Australia visit the NHMRC website.
But back to the bunnies. A search of the leading international medical journal and clinical trial databases finds no matches for current or previously published clinical trials in humans using fetal rabbit cells. Basically this means that there is no medical evidence that the treatment is safe or that it even works. Testimonials from patients whilst very compelling are not considered proof. This lack of medical, scientific and safety information means a treatment such as this one would be unlikely to receive regulatory approval in Australia.
The risks of immune rejection, infection and diseases associated with animal fetal transplantation worries medical and scientific experts. In addition there is little information available on potential side effects of the treatment which costs, according to a quote by the company spokesperson in the West Australian newspaper, about the same as a “small car”.
To assist the public in finding out more about experimental therapies, what they should know before embarking on any type of experimental therapy and what is happening in Australia, the ASCC has released a Patient Information Handbook Stem Cell Therapies: Now and in the Future. The purpose of the Handbook is to assist Australians to critically analyse stem cell treatments being offered before considering taking part in them. To download the Handbook, click here.
To read the article in today’s Australian newspaper click here.