Madam, - Recent reports concerning unlicensed stem cell therapy in Cork are deeply disturbing and reflect a failure by the State to protect innocent patients from unproven and potentially dangerous and expensive medical treatment. However, the articles your edition of March 31st by Muiris Houston, Barry Roche and Dick Ahlstrom may have led to some confusion for your readers - in particular the statement that "there are currently no proven stem cell treatments against any disease available anywhere in the world"
The first stem cell laboratory in Ireland was started by myself and a young graduate student of Trinity College in St James's Hospital in 1982. We established techniques for growing and studying bone marrow stem cells from volunteer human donors (myself and other staff members) before carrying out the first successful stem cell transplant for leukaemia in Ireland in 1984. Since then more than 800 patients have received stem cell transplants in our unit, including stem cells from family members, unrelated donors and from the patient's own cells.
As Muiris Houston correctly states, all stem cell laboratories dealing with therapeutic interventions will be regulated by the EU tissue directive of April 7th, 2006. In St James's Hospital we have successfully concluded negotiations with the HSE, the Department of Health and Children and the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to open a new laboratory to comply with these regulations.
Stem cells are readily obtainable from human bone marrow, blood or umbilical cord and are widely used to treat leukaemia and related disorders very successfully.
Current research is investigating the possibility that stem cells from blood or bone marrow can be "encouraged" to grow into other tissues such as heart muscle. The laboratory evidence is controversial and clinical trials evaluating small numbers of patients has yielded equivocal results.
Embryonic stem cells are an entirely different matter. These stem cells can clearly grow into all human tissues but research in this area is highly controversial and is prohibited in many countries.
Finally, I wish to comment on the use of unlicensed medical interventions. Whereas we all would like to use "licensed" products exclusively, it should be unequivocally stated that a number of drugs that are vitally important in the treatment of human leukaemia do not have and probably never will have a licence in Ireland. These drugs are used in leukaemia departments universally but because of a very small population in Ireland and the prohibitive costs incurred in applying for a licence the situation remains unresolved.
The Government should act immediately to protect patients from unproven medical interventions but also make sure that useful and medically proven drugs are available under licence to Irish doctors and patients immediately. - Yours, etc,
Prof SHAUN R. McCANN, Medical Director, Stem Cell Laboratory, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8.