Pilot programmes
1. Heart Failure
When heart fails to pump out sufficient blood to the rest of the body as demanded, most often caused by heart attack and high blood pressure, heart muscles will be damaged. This is a condition called heart failure. Most people with heart failure complain of breathing difficulty that may happen during exercise, eating or even sleeping. Other common symptoms and signs are lethargy, ankle swelling, abdominal bloating, frequent urination and memory impairment.
Patient with heart failure also have a poor prognosis and high risk of developing dangerous heart rhythms triggered by the damaged tissue inside the heart.
Current established treatment includes medications that have been proven to alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of death. Furthermore if the heart damage were caused by blockage of artery, then angioplasty or heart bypass operation may help as they can restore blood supply to parts of the heart that is starved of oxygen. Unfortunately none of the conventional and current treatments above could regenerate new heart muscle to replace the permanently damaged ones caused by previous heart attacks. Hence there will always be some degree of heart failure and progressive deterioration in health.
For patient with heart failure, Cardiocell™ treatment will repair damaged cells and provide growth of new heart muscle, hence increase the overall strength of heart and alleviate heart failure. In addition, Cardiocell™ replaces the scarred portions of the damaged heart with viable muscle. As these scarred areas can trigger dangerous heart rhythms and cause cardiac arrest, by replacing the scar tissue, Cardiocell™ not only improves heart failure but also reduces the risk of sudden death from cardiac arrest.
In studies using cells identical to Cardiocell™ for heart failure, patients benefited from symptom relief, improved exercise capacity and stamina, and reduction of angina. There is evidence of increased heart strength and contractility, reduction of heart swelling and scar tissue.
Cardiocell™ allows the heart to repair and reverse its damage that current conventional treatment cannot provide. It is therefore complementary to conventional heart failure therapy. It brings new hope and treatment option for heart failure patients who remain ill in spite of, or are ineligible for, current treatments.
Generally if you had a heart attack in the last 2 years which has resulted in severe heart failure now and you have exhausted current methods of treatment, then you may be eligible for CardiocellTM treatment. We welcome your participation in CardiocellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor or cardiologist to determine your eligibility criteria.
*CardiocellTM is also suitable for non-ischemia dilated cardiomyopathy. Please contact us to find out more.
2. Heart Attack
Heart attack occurs when there is sudden interruption of blood flow to the heart caused by blood clot that blocks the coronary blood vessel. This blockage and subsequent loss of blood flow causes the portion of the heart to die and become scarred and eventually leads to heart failure. Most people with heart attack complain of chest pains that feel heavy or tight. The pain may spread to involve the neck, shoulder or arms. In addition, there may also be breathing difficulty, sweating, nausea, palpitation and dizziness.
It is paramount to restore blood supply to the heart as quickly as possible. This may be done by a drug that dissolves the blood clot in the coronary, or through angioplasty to reopen the artery or with a heart bypass operation. Depending on how soon your doctor restores blood supply to the heart, your heart attack may leave you with a small degree of heart muscle damage or an extensive one.
Unfortunately none of the conventional and current treatments above could regenerate new heart muscle to replace the permanently damaged ones caused by the heart attack. For patients with extensive damage, the heart may become weaker and inefficient and ultimately causes heart failure to occur. The permanently damaged areas of the heart become scarred and can trigger dangerous heart rhythms resulting in sudden cardiac arrests. Patients therefore have to take life-long medication to reduce the risk of either complication.
For patient who just had a heart attack, Cardiocell-EX™ treatment will repair or provide growth of new heart muscle. Cardiocell-EX™ has the ability to rejuvenate and regenerate damaged heart muscle and therefore will increase the overall strength of heart and reduce the risk developing heart failure following heart attack. In addition, Cardiocell-EX™ will replace the scarred portions of the damaged heart with viable muscle. As these scarred areas can trigger dangerous heart rhythms and cause cardiac arrest, by replacing the scar tissue, Cardiocell-EX™ not only prevents heart failure but also reduces the risk of sudden death from cardiac arrest.
In studies using cells identical to Cardiocell-EX™ for heart failure, patients benefited from symptom relief, improved exercise capacity and stamina, and reduction of angina. There is evidence of increased heart strength and contractility, reduction of heart swelling and scar tissue. There were also fewer hospitalizations for heart failure and need for surgical intervention.
Cardiocell-EX™ allows the heart to repair and reverse its damage that current conventional treatment cannot provide. It is therefore complementary to conventional heart failure therapy. It brings new hope and treatment option for heart failure patients who remain ill in spite of, or are ineligible for, current treatments.
Generally if you had a heart attack in the last 4 weeks which has resulted in extensive heart damage despite treatments to restore blood supply, then you may be eligible for Cardiocell-EXTM treatment. We welcome your participation in Cardiocell-EXTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor or cardiologist to determine your eligibility criteria.
3. Refractory Angina and Peripheral Artery Disease
People with angina complain of frequent chest pains that feel heavy or tight. It usually occurs with any kind of exertion including emotional stress and is caused by insufficient blood supply to the heart. Refractory angina is when the angina could not be controlled or relieved by conventional medications or procedures such as angioplasty, coronary stenting and/or heart bypass operation. Patients with diabetes are more likely to develop refractory angina. Patients with refractory angina suffer from daily attacks of angina that limits their activities and quality of life. Furthermore, as with any patient with coronary disease, there is a 10-30% risk of heart attack, stroke or death in the next ten years.
Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a condition where long blood vessels supply to arms and legs are blocked as a result of smoking, diabetes, and high cholesterol. As the blood supply becomes interrupted, patients normally complain that their calves are painful or cramp during walking.
Current treatments, including angioplasty and bypass are ineffective because these patients have extensive and diffusely diseased blood vessels. The vessels are also small-sized and therefore it is difficult or even impossible to stent or bypass all of these small vessels.
For patient with refractory angina and PAD, Angiocell™ treatment will facilitate the growth of new blood vessel or expansion of existing fine vessel in the heart. This process of angiogenesis by Angiocell™ will replenish or restore blood flow to the parts of the heart that is lacking in blood supply. Angiocell™ does this effectively because it has been grown in sufficient numbers to cater to the demands of regenerating new blood vessels. By growing the cells ex vivo free from the patient’s exposure to smoking or high blood sugar, these cells are longer-lasting and fully-functional.
Cells identical to Angiocell™ have been studied in both patients with angina and patients with heart attack. The overall results after 6-12 months are improvement to patient symptoms, improved exercise capacity and stamina, and reduction of angina.
Generally if you continue to suffer with refractory angina and PAD to the point that it is limiting your daily activities, and you have exhausted or are ineligible for current methods of treatment, then you may be eligible for Angiocell™ treatment. We welcome your participation in AngiocellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor or cardiologist to determine your eligibility criteria.
4. Osteoarthritis and other Cartilage Defects
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition affecting joints. A smooth, slippery, fibrous connective tissue, called articular cartilage, acts as a protective cushion between bones. Arthritis develops as the cartilage begins to deteriorate and the joint space between the bones narrows. With time the cartilage thins, becoming grooved and fragmented. The surrounding bones react by growing outward and form spurs. The synovium (a membrane that produces a thick fluid that helps nourish the cartilage and keep it slippery) becomes inflamed and thickened. It may produce extra fluid, resulting in joint swelling. In severe cases, when the articular cartilage is gone, the thickened bone ends can rub against each other and wear away. This results in severe pain and deformity of the joint.
Arthritis is the most common chronic musculoskeletal disorder. As an age-related condition, about 20% of elderly patients suffer from OA and a significant portion of them are afflicted seriously enough to be considered disabled. There are currently no cures for this condition. Other cartilage defects can be due to trauma and gout.
In general, treatment options fall into four major groups: Health and exercise; drug therapies for pain relief, glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate; intra-articular injections; and surgery such as arthroscopy, osteotomy, arthroplasty and total knee replacement which are reserved for the most severe cases. Newer methods including taking out some mature cartilage cells from the affected joint, expanding them in a lab and transplanting them back but the results are not consistent. Latest methods consist of using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to form immature cartilage cells for more effective regeneration and repair of articular cartilage.
For patient with osteoarthritis or other cartilage defects due to trauma and gout whom had exhausted all available treatment options and ineligible or refused surgery, Chondrocell™ may help to improve pain and restore daily functions by generating new hyaline cartilage cells that are tensile and functional. This treatment, unlike preparations of cultured mature cartilage cells, have significantly more cartilage regeneration potential to restore hyaline cartilage which has degenerated at the site of a patient's affected joint.
In studies using cells identical to Chondrocell™ for OA compared to mature cartilage cell implants, medicines and joint injections, patients benefited from pain relief and greater mobility. Imaging studies showed healing of the cartilage defect as early as 6 weeks post-implantation and complete healing by 12 to 24 weeks. The effects were long-lasting and the need for joint replacements could be deferred.
Generally if you are experiencing severe pain and swelling of your knee or hip joint that is limiting your mobility and quality of life, then you may be eligible for ChondrocellTM treatment. We welcome your participation in ChondrocellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor or orthopaedic surgeon to determine your eligibility criteria.
5. Diabetic Foot Ulcer and Wound Healing
The most common risk factors for ulcer formation include diabetic neuropathy, structural foot deformity and peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Diabetic foot ulcers are the most common foot injuries leading to lower extremity amputation. People with diabetes mellitus, a disorder in which blood sugar levels are abnormally high, are at risk for foot ulcers.
The elevated blood sugar levels that occur with diabetes mellitus damage blood vessels, causing them to thicken and leak. Over time, this thickening would disrupt blood supply to the body, especially the skin. Plaque is also more likely to build up in blood vessels (called atherosclerosis), which causes poor circulation. Poor blood supply to the skin often leads to ulcers, especially on the feet, which are slow to heal and often become deep and infected.
6% of diabetic patients develop foot ulcers annually. The incidence of major amputation is between 1-5 cases per 1000 people with diabetes. These are the patients with the most severe ulcers and usually have exhausted all medical and surgical options.
For patient with existing blood vessel blockage, then angioplasty or bypass operation should be considered to restore blood supply. The medicines prescribed by your doctor also help to aid ulcer recovery and clear infection. Any necrotic or gangrenous tissue needs to be debrided back to the healthy area. New methods such as the hyperbaric oxygen therapy may aid recovery of ulcer but do not necessarily treat the underlying blood vessel blockage making recurrence of ulcer very likely. If the bone becomes exposed and infected, then amputation may be necessary.
For patient with diabetic foot ulcer and non-healing wound, DermacellTM treatment will repair damaged blood vessels, regenerates new blood vessels to restore blood supply to your leg and regenerate new skin tissue.
Studies and case reports performed internationally on cells for non-healing ischemic ulcers have been very promising. Patients treated with cells identical to DermacellTM shown significant reduction in calf pain, recovery of ulcer and improvement to walking distance. There are also no serious side effects and complications and no deaths directly attributable to the stem cell treatment in these clinical studies so far.
Generally if you have diabetic foot ulcer or non-healing wound and are ineligible for bypass operation or angioplasty, and contemplated amputation, you may be eligible for DermacellTM treatment. We welcome your participation in DermacellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor or orthopaedic surgeon to determine your eligibility criteria.
6. Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury
Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurological damage, complications and death. A stroke happens when there is loss of brain functions due to a disturbance of blood supply in the blood vessels to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of blood supply) caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage.
The initial treatment may include thrombolysis, an infusion to restore the blood supply to your brain and antiplatelet agents to prevent future strokes. Sometimes an operation may be necessary to relieve some pressure build-up inside the brain or to remove a blood clot. Subsequently, there are very little one can do apart from physiotherapy and managing the risk factors to prevent future stroke.
Often despite the prompt action of your doctor, a portion of your brain cells would still have been damaged by the blockage. The affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand or formulate speech or inability to see one side of the visual field. Some may have loss of functions including standing, passing urine, breathing and etc.
Currently there is no treatment that can reverse the damage that is being done to the brain cells. Brain cells do not self-regenerate once they are damaged by stroke. Although some recovery can take place in the first 3 months, any deficits following that period are likely to be permanent.
Spinal cord injury can be due to a variety of causes, including trauma, tumor, ischemia, developmental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, demyelinative diseases, transverse myelitis and vascular malformation.
Because the spinal cord acts as the main information pathway between the brain and the rest of the body, a spinal cord injury can have significant physiological consequences. The segment of the cord that is injured, and the severity of the injury, will determine which body functions are compromised or lost. Spinal cord injuries are invariably permanent and can result in sensory deficit, motor weakness, urinary incontinence and difficulty breathing, which is a life-threatening condition.
The initial treatments may include immunoglobulins and other anti-inflammatories as well as surgery if the cause was due to trauma or infiltration. Subsequently, there are very little one can do apart from physiotherapy. If the spinal cord injury is related to impingement, then your doctor would have advised you on the possibility of surgery. A breathing respirator may be required if the patient were unable to breathe properly.
There are no effective treatments in regenerating the damaged or lost nerve cells. But improved emergency care, aggressive treatment and rehabilitation can minimize damage to the nervous system and even restore limited abilities for patient with spinal cord injury.
For patient with stroke or spinal cord injury, NeuroncellTM may improve neurological functions by angiogenesis (regenerate blood vessels to restore blood supply) and neurogenesis (regenerate new nerve cells) while reducing inflammation and scar tissue.
There have been numerous studies in the laboratory showing the benefits of stem cell in treating stroke and spinal cord injury. As these are new form of therapy, there is little published literature on the efficacy of the use of stem cell in treating stroke and spinal cord injury. However, it has been widely used on other medical conditions such as heart diseases. From these experiences we know there are no serious side effects and complications and no deaths directly attributable to the stem cell treatment in these clinical studies. As it is a relatively new treatment, its long-term effects are as yet unknown. Furthermore, you may need multiple infusions of cells before seeing signs of improvement.
If you have stroke or spinal cord no longer than three months, you may be eligible for NeuroncellTM treatment. We welcome your participation in NeuroncellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor, neurologist or neurosurgeon to determine your eligibility criteria.
7. Intervertebral Disc (IVD) Degenerative Disease
Low back pain (LBP) affects a large proportion of the adult population at some point in their lives and in many of these cases it is persistent, eventually leading to debilitating pain. The majority of the cases of LBP are due to degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD), the soft tissue which separates the vertebrae in the spine and protects them from damage as it is the flexibility of this tissue that allows movement of the (bending, twisting etc).
The IVD is comprised of a central gel-like tissue (nucleus pulposus or NP), surrounded by a fibrous ring of tissue (annulus fibrosus or AF). Nucleus pulposus is the jelly-like substance in the middle of the spinal disc which consists of chondrocytes (cartilage cells), collagen fibrils, and proteoglycan aggrecans that have hyaluronic long chains which attract water. It acts as a shock absorber, absorbing the impact of the body's daily activities and keeping the two vertebrae separated. Over time the NP becomes dry and fibrous, no longer able to maintain the height of the IVD and cannot support the weight of the body, which means the disc becomes damaged and dysfunctional and this is the source of the LBP in many people.
Currently, treatments address the symptoms, mainly pain – using a combination of painkillers, physiotherapy or surgery, removing tissue to relieve the pain or fusing the vertebrae above and below the painful disc level together to remove the pain, although this also stops movement at that disc level. None of these options is ideal as they only treat the symptoms, not the cause which is IVD degeneration and so are of limited long-term success.
For patient with lower back pain due to degenerative IVD, DiscocellTM may improve the pain by regenerating new nucleus pulposus or NP cells that are similar to cartilage cells. These new cells are allowed to mature inside the IVD and differentiate into mature NP cells that help to maintain the health and height of the IVD. DiscocellTM treatment therefore emulates the natural healing process of IVD degeneration and diseases with stem cells derived from one�����s own bone marrow.
There are currently no published clinical data on the effectiveness of this new technique. However animal models of IVD disease have shown that injecting cells similar to DiscocellTM directly into the disc, the height of the IVD is maintained or increased. Patients likely to benefit the most are those with at least moderately severe or severe IVD disease that cause much disability, loss of mobility and pain with reduced quality of life. For these patients, the need for advanced surgical intervention involving can be deferred or even obviated.
If you have severe lower back pain due to degenerative disc disease, you may be eligible for DiscocellTM treatment. We welcome your participation in DiscocellTM pilot programme as part of Cytopeutics’ clinical study. However, you should consult your regular doctor, neurologist or neurosurgeon to determine your eligibility criteria.