Cancer Related Stem Cell Transplants May Be Related to Cataracts

Cancer Related Stem Cell Transplants May Be Related to Cataracts

Cancer patients who are receiving high dose chemotherapy, which kills the cancer cells and their body’s immune cells as well, frequently receive a transplant after the chemo of their own bone-marrow derived stem cells. This allows the immune system to restore itself after the poisoning effects of the anti-cancer drugs. However, this is not without its own cost.

A study reported on the Cancer Consultants website found that patients who had received stem cell transplants as part of a treatment for childhood cancer developed cataracts at a much higher rate (38%) than siblings of cancer patients who did not have cancer. However, the cataracts only occurred among those who had received total body irradiation or radiation therapy to the head prior to the stem cell transplant. The cancer patients also had hearing loss, dizziness, pain, and motor problems, although these were not as prevalent as the cataracts.

My general reaction to this is that people who have childhood cancers have health problems later. The Cancer Consultants article frames these as side effects of having a stem cell transplant; but it seems to me that there are several other variables, and these health consequences may be a result of having an immune system damaged by the chemotherapy that the stem cells could not restore, or to the radiation (which seems fairly clearly related to the cataracts), or to the debilitating effects of having cancer. I think we’d have to see a comparison group of cancer survivors who did not have stem cell transplants to be sure that the stem cell transplant was related to the later health problems. However, it is clear that if you received radiation and chemo for a childhood cancer, you should be monitored for vision problems.

Lung stem cells discovered

Lung stem cells discovered

A story in the MIT Technology Review says that researchers there have identified stem cells in the lungs. Researchers have identified a group of cells in the area of the lung between the airways and the alveoli that are apparently the first cells to go wrong in lung cancer. In lab cultures, these cells divided first and were the only cells to increase when a cancer-causing gene was activated. There are still huge research questions to explore, but this is certainly a significant step forward in determining the etiology and progression of lung cancer, and potentially in treatment and early diagnosis.

New Jersey Update

New Jersey Update

Members of a New Jersey Senate committee yesterday voted to add $50 million for adult stem cell research to the stem cell bill currently under deliberation. The money would be borrowed from state cigarette tax revenue. The story is reported by the Courier-Post. The New Jersey Assembly version of the bill is still in committee.