• Question: Are there any dangers with using stem cells for treatments ?

    Asked by charlotte96 to Sharon, Kara, Jayne, James, Emma on 20 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: James Chan

      James Chan answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      I’m glad you asked that, because most people focus on the advantages of stem cells and forget to ask important questions like this one. Yes, sure, there are potential dangers with using stem cells. One of the greatest worries we have is that because stem cells are non-specialised cells and have the potential to differentiate into different types of cells, it means that they can potentially turn into cancer cells. So it is very important that we understand how to get the cells to do what we want them to do before we can safely do things in humans regularly. While we are striving to help people with this technology, you are absolutely right, we have to be totally sure that what we are doing is safe. One of the first things I was taught in medical school was, first, do no harm!

    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi charlotte,
      The main danger of using embryonic stem cells is that if we do not control their growth properly, they sometimes form cancer cells, or other type of cells that we do not want which would be a disaster if we were to transplant stem cells into a patient, and maybe cure their liver disease, but as a side effect give them cancer. That is why it seems that stem cell research is taking a really long time, we need to be 100% sure that the stem cells will do EXACTLY what we want them to. The way we stop them from forming the wrong types of cells all depends on the way in which they are grown in the laboratory, we give them certain kinds of chemicals, called growth factors, and sometimes hormones and other things to make sure they behave themselves and act like they should, but we need to do the experiments over and over again, so we are sure that we are not going to harm anyone if they were to get put into a patient.

      However, bone marraow transplants which are a kind of adult stem cell transplant are very effective and safe so we at least know that stem cells can behave themselves in the human body!

    • Photo: Emma King

      Emma King answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      Hi charlotte96 – yes there are some dangers, which is why we have to have such a strict system of regulation around stem cell research. Stem cells by their very nature can multiply and turn into different tissues – so if we don’t control them very well they can form tumours in the body. This is why many countries have such a strict amount of testing before any cell therapies can be used.
      There is always a risk as well that people will go abroad and try untested therapies and put their own health at risk – so we need to educate people about why it takes so long to get safe therapies tested in the UK.

    • Photo: Kara Cerveny

      Kara Cerveny answered on 20 Mar 2011:

      Great question. Any time proliferating cells are in a differentiated environment, there is a risk that they won’t stop proliferating and will eventually form an overgrowth or a tumor. In fact, my research on the retinal stem cell niche was aimed at trying to understand how proteins and small molecules that are secreted by cells surrounding stem cells limit their proliferation so that neither too many nor too few eye cells are produced. You can read more about the research I participated in at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/zebrafish-group/research/stemCell.php

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