Health
Stem-cell therapy for Parkinson's shows 'strong promise' in relieving symptoms
With around one million people living with Parkinson’s disease in the U.S. — and 90,000 getting new diagnoses each year — the race is on for a cure.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have announced progress on that front — they have developed a new therapy that uses stem cells to treat advanced Parkinson’s.
In the phase 1 trial, the researchers used donated stem cells (taken from early-stage embryos) to create nerve cells (neurons) and transplanted them into the brains of 12 Parkinson’s patients, according to a press release from MSK.
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Once the cells are injected, they produce dopamine, a hormone in the brain that helps with movement and coordination.
(One of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s is low levels of dopamine, which causes the typical symptoms of tremors, stiffness, balance issues and difficulty walking.)
Around one million people are living with Parkinson’s disease in the U.S., with 90,000 getting new diagnoses each year. (iStock)
After 18 months, the injected cells had “taken hold in the brain with no serious side effects,” the researchers reported.
Based on the MDS-UPDRS — a ratings scale for symptoms developed by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society — the participants experienced “noticeable improvements,” especially the group that received a higher dose.
Patients in the high-dose group reported 2.7 hours of additional “on time” each day.
“Neurologists say things usually get a little bit worse every year with this disease, meaning the score goes up by a few points,” study co-author Lorenz Studer, MD, director of MSK’s Center for Stem Cell Biology, said in the press release.
“In our study, not only did the score not get worse, it dropped by more than 20 points in the high-dose group.”
The researchers used donated stem cells (taken from early-stage embryos) to create nerve cells (neurons) and transplanted them into the brains of 12 Parkinson’s patients. (iStock)
On average, patients in the high-dose group reported 2.7 hours of additional “on time” — indicating periods of normal functioning with minimal symptoms — “a result that could be quite meaningful for their everyday life,” Studer noted.
Given the success of the phase 1 trial, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for the researchers to go straight to a phase 3 clinical trial in a much larger patient group — around 100 people — which will take place in the first half of 2025.
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
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“The study showed that developing specific nerve cells from human embryonic stem cells in the lab, then injecting them in the brain of people with Parkinson’s disease, is safe and holds significant promise as a possible future treatment,” lead study author Viviane Tabar, MD, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told Fox News Digital.
“The findings were rewarding, as this work is more than a dozen years in the making.”
‘Major step forward’
Dr. Mary Ann Picone, medical director of the MS Center at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, said that cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease could offer potential for not only slowing disability, but also stopping progression and bringing about improvement in motor function.
“Although there is risk involved in the immune suppression necessary before the stem cell implantation and the procedure itself, it would be a major step forward in replacing the dopaminergic neurons lost in the disease,” Picone, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
Levodopa, currently the first-line treatment for Parkinson’s, is limited in that patients need greater dosage amounts as time goes on, according to Picone — “and regulating off and on periods of either stiffness or dyskinesias (uncontrolled muscle movements) becomes more difficult.”
After 18 months, the injected cells had “taken hold in the brain with no serious side effects,” the researchers reported. (iStock)
Dr. Ann Murray, director of movement disorders at WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in West Virginia, referred to the study as “unbelievably exciting” for Parkinson’s patients.
“Although the goal of this particular research project was to ensure safety, getting that significant clinical improvement in the UPDRS is absolutely groundbreaking,” Murray told Fox News Digital. (She also was not involved in the study.)
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“This is just the first step in getting this type of therapy approved for patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, but this is an amazing first step for the potential benefits of stem cell brain therapy.”
Potential limitations
There were some limitations associated with the study, Tabar noted.
“This is a small study designed to show safety — it is critical to conduct a larger, well-controlled study to prove that the treatment indeed works, otherwise referred to as a Phase 3 ‘efficacy’ study,” she said.
“This is an amazing first step for the potential benefits of stem cell brain therapy.”
These early findings, however, are “suggestive of a strong promise.”
“I think we can finally say that stem cells, when derived and differentiated properly, hold great promise to repair the brain in Parkinson’s and potentially in other conditions someday,” Tabar said.
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The cell therapy was developed at MSK and was licensed to BlueRock Therapeutics in Massachusetts, which funded the study.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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