News & Events
Claims for Chinese MND stem cell treatment disputed by scientists
27 June 2006
Doctors should advise their patients against an unproven and controversial treatment for Motor Neurone Disease, according to scientists who dispute claims it restores movement to patients with MND and Spinal Cord Injury.
The “stem cell” treatment, which involves people with MND having cells from aborted foetuses injected into their brains, has been studied by a group of US scientists, who have published their findings this month.
Dr Hongyun Huang, who offers the treatment commercially in Beijing, claims it is safe and effective in both people with MND and those with Spinal Cord Injury, where the treatment involves the cells being injected into the spine. More than 500 patients have been treated so far, including 100 with MND, and Dr Huang says there are 3,000 Chinese and 1,000 foreigners awaiting the surgery, which costs around $20,000 (£13,000).
But the study by Bruce Dobkin and colleagues says longer-term follow-ups and assessment of people who had undergone the treatment shows no measurable improvement in their condition. In addition, the identity of the cells used – claimed to be Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs) from aborted foetuses – could not be confirmed.
They added that the procedures they had observed did not attempt to meet international standards for clinical trials to show safety or effectiveness, and that therefore “physicians should not recommend this procedure to patients”.
The observational study assessed seven people with Spinal Cord Injury both before and up to a year following surgery at Dr Huang’s clinic. Five became ill as a result of surgery, including three who developed meningitis, and there was no objective sign of improvement in their mobility in the months following the operation.
The study concludes: “Until international standards for scientific trial methodologies have been incorporated, clinicians are obligated to advise their patients to forgo Dr Huang’s procedure.”
Dr Brian Dickie, Director of Research Development at the MND Association, said: “MND is a cruel and devastating disease, for which science has yet to offer a cure or effective treatment, and it’s easy to see why people are tempted by unproven treatments such as this one.
“However, extraordinary claims call for extraordinary evidence. Given the financial, emotional and physical risks of such a treatment, with no proven benefits or proper evidence of its safety and effectiveness, it is certainly appropriate for doctors to advise against it."
The “stem cell” treatment, which involves people with MND having cells from aborted foetuses injected into their brains, has been studied by a group of US scientists, who have published their findings this month.
Dr Hongyun Huang, who offers the treatment commercially in Beijing, claims it is safe and effective in both people with MND and those with Spinal Cord Injury, where the treatment involves the cells being injected into the spine. More than 500 patients have been treated so far, including 100 with MND, and Dr Huang says there are 3,000 Chinese and 1,000 foreigners awaiting the surgery, which costs around $20,000 (£13,000).
But the study by Bruce Dobkin and colleagues says longer-term follow-ups and assessment of people who had undergone the treatment shows no measurable improvement in their condition. In addition, the identity of the cells used – claimed to be Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs) from aborted foetuses – could not be confirmed.
They added that the procedures they had observed did not attempt to meet international standards for clinical trials to show safety or effectiveness, and that therefore “physicians should not recommend this procedure to patients”.
The observational study assessed seven people with Spinal Cord Injury both before and up to a year following surgery at Dr Huang’s clinic. Five became ill as a result of surgery, including three who developed meningitis, and there was no objective sign of improvement in their mobility in the months following the operation.
The study concludes: “Until international standards for scientific trial methodologies have been incorporated, clinicians are obligated to advise their patients to forgo Dr Huang’s procedure.”
Dr Brian Dickie, Director of Research Development at the MND Association, said: “MND is a cruel and devastating disease, for which science has yet to offer a cure or effective treatment, and it’s easy to see why people are tempted by unproven treatments such as this one.
“However, extraordinary claims call for extraordinary evidence. Given the financial, emotional and physical risks of such a treatment, with no proven benefits or proper evidence of its safety and effectiveness, it is certainly appropriate for doctors to advise against it."
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Notes to editors
Cellular Transplants in China: Observational Study from the Largest Human Experiment in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury, by Bruce H Dobkin MD, Armin Curt MD and James Guest MD PhD, is published in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2006; 20(1): 5-13 .
