|
Other common
name(s): cellular therapy, fresh cell therapy, live cell
therapy, glandular therapy, xenotransplant therapy
Scientific/medical
name(s): none
Description
In cell therapy, processed tissue from the organs, embryos, or
fetuses of animals such as sheep or cows is injected into patients.
Cell therapy is promoted as an alternative form of cancer treatment.
Overview
Available scientific evidence does not support claims that
cell therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease.
Serious side effects can result from cell therapy. It may in fact be
lethal—several deaths have been reported. It is important to
distinguish between this alternative method involving animal cells and
mainstream cancer treatments that use human cells, such as bone marrow
transplantation.
How is it promoted for use?
In cell therapy, live or freeze-dried cells or pieces of cells
from the healthy organs, fetuses, or embryos of animals such as sheep
or cows are injected into patients. This is supposed to repair cellular
damage and heal sick or failing organs. Cell therapy is promoted as an
alternative therapy for cancer, arthritis, heart disease, Down
syndrome, and Parkinson disease.
Cell therapy is also marketed to counter the effects of aging,
reverse degenerative diseases, improve general health, increase
vitality and stamina, and enhance sexual function. Some practitioners
have proposed using cell therapy to treat AIDS patients.
The theory behind cell therapy is that the healthy animal
cells injected into the body can find their way to weak or damaged
organs of the same type and stimulate the body's own healing process.
The choice of the type of cells to use depends on which organ is having
the problem. For instance, a patient with a diseased liver may receive
injections of animal liver cells. Most cell therapists today use cells
taken from taken from the tissue of animal embryos.
Supporters assert that after the cells are injected into the
body, they are transported directly to where they are most needed. They
claim that embryonic and fetal animal tissue contains therapeutic
agents that can repair damage and stimulate the immune system, thereby
helping cells in the body heal.
The alternative treatment cell therapy is very different from
some forms of proven therapy that use live human cells. Bone marrow
transplants infuse blood stem cells—from the patient or a
carefully matched donor—after the patient’s own
bone marrow cells have been destroyed. Studies have shown that bone
marrow transplants are effective in helping to treat several types of
cancer. In another accepted procedure, damaged knee cartilage can be
repaired by taking cartilage cells from the patient's knee, carefully
growing them in the laboratory, and then injecting them back into the
joint. Approaches involving transplants of other types of human stem
cells are being studied as a possible way to replace damaged nerve or
heart muscle cells, but these approaches are still experimental.
What does it involve?
First, healthy live cells are harvested from the organs of
juvenile or adult live animals, animal embryos, or animal fetuses.
These cells may be taken from the brain, pituitary gland, thyroid
gland, thymus gland, liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, heart, ovaries,
testicles, or even from whole embryos. Patients might receive one or
several types of animal cells. Some cell therapists inject fresh cells
into their patients. Others freeze them first, which kills the cells,
and they may filter out some of the cell components. Frozen cell
extracts have a longer "shelf life" and can be screened for disease.
Fresh cells cannot be screened. A course of cell therapy to address a
specific disease might require several injections over a short period
of time, whereas cell therapy designed to treat the effects of aging
and "increase vitality" may involve injections received over many
months.
Animal cell extracts are also sold in pill form as dietary
supplements, usually called glandular supplements. These, too,
allegedly travel to organs of the same kind in the body to promote
healing.
What is the history behind it?
The Swiss physician Paul Niehans, MD, invented cell therapy in
1931. During a medical emergency, Dr. Niehans injected a solution
containing ground-up parathyroid cells from a calf into a patient who
had damaged parathyroid glands. The patient recovered, and Dr. Niehans
attributed the improvement to the injection. He went on to apply the
idea of animal–human cellular transfer to other diseases.
Dr. Niehans claimed that he treated more than 30,000 patients
with cell therapy. He also claimed that the death rate from cancer
among his patients who received cell therapy was 5 times less than that
of the average population. He believed that injections of cells from
animals resistant to cancer would increase cancer resistance in humans.
A second physician announced similar findings thirty years later.
Neither claim has ever been supported by research studies published in
medical journals.
Cell therapy may be harmful and is not legally available in
the United States. Because of safety concerns and lack of proof of its
effectiveness, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned
the import of cell therapy products into the country. The treatment is
provided in clinics and spas in Europe, Mexico, and the Bahamas.
What is the evidence?
None of the therapeutic success claimed by cell therapists has
been documented through scientific testing and published in
peer-reviewed medical journals. Claims of the therapy’s
success take the form of individual cases, testimonials, and publicity
issued by practitioners of the therapy. Even supporters of cell therapy
admit they do not know how cell therapy works in the body. No reliable
evidence has been published in medical journals to support the claims
of cell therapy.
Are there any possible problems or
complications?
These
substances may have not been thoroughly tested to find out how they
interact with medicines, foods, or dietary supplements. Even though
some reports of interactions and harmful effects may be published, full
studies of interactions and effects are not often available. Because of
these limitations, any information on ill effects and interactions
below should be considered incomplete.
Cell therapy may be dangerous, and several patient deaths
linked to the therapy have been reported in the medical literature.
Patients can contract bacterial and viral infections carried by the
animal cells, and some have had life-threatening and even fatal
allergic reactions. Other reports list complications such as brain
swelling or the immune system attacking blood vessels or nerves
following cellular treatment. Serious immune system reactions resulting
in death have also been reported. Women who are pregnant or
breastfeeding should not use this method, as its possible effects on a
fetus are unknown.
Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding or
delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious health
consequences.
Additional Resources
More information from your American Cancer
Society
The following information on complementary and alternative
therapies may also be helpful to you. These materials may be found on
our Web site (www.cancer.org)
or ordered from our toll-free number (1-800-ACS-2345).
References
American Cancer Society. Unproven methods of cancer
management: Fresh cell therapy. CA
Cancer J Clin. 1991;41:126-128.
Barrett S. Cellular therapy. 2003. Accessed at:
www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/cellular.html on June
11, 2008.
Cassileth B. The
Alternative Medicine Handbook. New York, NY: W. W. Norton
& Co; 1998.
Gage FH. Cell therapy. Nature.
1998;392:18-24.
US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Unconventional
Cancer Treatments. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1990.
Publication OTA-H-405.
Note: This information may not cover
all possible claims, uses, actions, precautions, side effects or
interactions. It is not intended as medical advice, and should not be
relied upon as a substitute for consultation with your doctor, who is
familiar with your medical situation.
Last Medical Review: 11/01/2008
Last Revised: 11/01/2008
|
