Stem cell research has always been a debate in the medical field for many years. This debate is based on ethic and moral dilemmas. Many doctors feel the use of stem cells can cure and help rejuvenate the body, while others believe it is wrong to use stem cells for medical reasons. This debate will undoubtably continue for many years to come, although the believers who say stem cell research and application is the way to go may have a step up in this debate as of recently.
Dr. Khalid Shah, a neuroscientist at Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA, and also of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA, the scientists found the toxin-releasing stem cells eliminated cancer cells left behind in mouse brains following tumor removal.
Dr. Shahs recent study showed that filling stem cells with the herpes can kill cancerous brain tumor sells using a secrete toxin which does not kill the stem cell. These secrete toxins carry a cytotoxin which enters the body and stops other cells from producing proteins, which in turn stops the cells from growing, reproducing killing them. Until a recent medical breakthrough were deadly to all cells if these cytotoxins entered the system.
Although Dr. Shah understands that these stem cells can be used to prevent and fight different blood cancers, the likelihood of completely wiping out a solid cancerous tumor is an uphill battle. A state from Dr. Shah, “Cancer-killing toxins have been used with great success in a variety of blood cancers, but they don’t work as well in solid tumors because the cancers aren’t as accessible and the toxins have a short half-life.” After tedious research and experiments, Dr. Shah and his team were able to come to find a stem cell which started to attack the tumor without killing the other sells around it or the stem cells themselves.
With this discovery, Dr. Shah just needs the okay to start testing these cells from the federal government. He hopes and expects to start clinical trials in the next five years if all goes well.