2:13 PM
stem cells
| By Joe Sornberger
THINK BIG As stem cells emerge as treatments for a variety of currently incurable diseases, Canada needs a co-ordinated strategy to score economic goals
T
ime was slipping away for Dan Muscat, a 49-year-old St. Thomas, Ontario jeweler who has systemic scleroderma. The rare and painful autoimmune disease hardens the skin before invading the internal organs, eventually leading to death. Energy had never been a problem for the self-motivated Muscat who, aside from running his jewelry business, loves fishing, collects sports cars and built his own log home. Then scleroderma struck him so hard he could barely get out of bed. It turned his skilled hands to stone. Muscat underwent an experimental stem cell transplant at The Ottawa Hospital over the summer that could extend and significantly improve his life. So far so good: “I feel optimistic again,” he said after his release from hospital. For Muscat, stem cells signify -- at the very least -- hope and -- at the very best -- a second chance at life. He is far from alone in his search for stem cell treatments for conditions that continue to frustrate modern medicine. People across Canada have been touched by the story of Jonathan Pitre, the remarkably upbeat 16-year-old Ottawa boy who traveled to Minnesota for a stem cell treatment to spare him from some of the ravages of his skin-blistering epidermolysis bullosa (EB). At the time this was written his first stem cell transplant had failed to engraft and he and his mother were pondering whether to attempt a second one. James Price, president & CEO of the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation (CSCF), has a twoand-a-half-inch- thick stack of email printouts on his desk, each sheet representing someone seeking help for themselves or a loved one for conditions or diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to spinal cord injury. “And those are just the email inquiries from the past 14 months,” says Price, who has been working to advance stem cell research and development in Canada for the past 14 years. “Then there are the many phone calls and enquiries and comments left on our blog each week.” Most often, responding to these pleas for stem cell help means explaining that the science isn’t there yet, which comes as cold com-
fort to someone who is suffering a severely life-limiting disorder. But little by little, things are inching toward clinical trials for a variety of diseases for which there currently are no cures. Muscat contacted the CSCF in January, desperately seeking help. “Fortunately, we were able to put him in touch with Dr. Harry Atkins at The Ottawa
Hospital,” said Price, “because we know Harry’s doing remarkable things with autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), Crohn’s disease and Stiff Person’s Syndrome.” Dr. Atkins, whose June Lancet paper described his transplant team’s success with MS, had never treated a scleroderma patient but was intrigued.
Muscat underwent an experimental stem cell transplant at The Ottawa Hospital over the summer that could extend and significantly improve his life.
Dan Muscat with Brenda Allen (sister)
October/November 2016 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 21
