Interview with Jan Nolta, Stem Cell Program Director at UC Davis 3/4/13
Can you tell us some background information about some of the work you have done over the past year?
At the University of California Davis we have six stem cell clinical trials currently ongoing, or recently completed. All of these use adult stem cells. These trials are designed to help patients where conventional medicine has failed. We have another 12-14 novel cell therapy trials in the pipeline. As Director my job is to meet with the teams who have the trials in the pipeline, to guide their progress toward obtaining approval from the Food And Drug Administration to start the trial, and to help each team obtain funding to support the development and medical costs since patients do not pay for these novel clinical trials.
What do you believe is the future of stem cells?
Prescriptions will be written to use stem cells as drugs in the place of conventional pharmaceutical drugs, for some diseases. This is already happening in several companies (Candad, New Zealand, Korea), where bags of frozen mesenchymal stem cells have obtained drug status and are approved as a therapy to be administered for life-threatening graft-Vs. Host disease.
How can stem cells be applied to current diseases?
The first stem cell therapy was bone marrow transplantation, which started over 50 years ago. Now over one million patients have been treated with this life-saving therapy, which is approved for reimbursement by insurance.
Adult stem cells known as mesenchymal stem cells, also from the bone marrow, can heal tissues and revascularize damaged ischemic areas, through the proteins they secrete. We call them “paramedic cells”. They do not become a part of the tissue but secrete factors to heal tissues. They are being studies for heart attack, stroke, and many other indications, and are found to be very safe in clinical trials.
Embryonic stem cells are just very recently entering clinical trials and they are the most exciting type of cell, because they can regenerate/create any tissue, in contrast to the adult stem cells
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Is there any relation between stem cells and cancer?
Yes, sometimes stem cells are transformed in the body by genetic mutation of epigenetic influences, and give rise to cancer stem cells. These are the culprits that give rise to recurrence and metastasis, since they can “hide out” during chemotherapy. Scientists, including many teams at UC Davis, are working on targeting these cells specifically. The dream is that cancer patients would not have to fear relapse if the cancer stem cells can be eradicated by targeted treatments.
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Due to the mass controversy over the use of embryonic stem cells, will induced pluripotent stem cells be the “staple” stem cell?
No, at least not in the near future. Embryonic stem cells are the gold standard, and very well characterized at this point in time. The H9 line has been growing continuously in labs all over the world for about 12 years. Cells derived from this human ES line are entering clinical trials at this point in time. iPSCs are about a decade behind this, in our understanding and importantly in safety profiling. They might catch up but not right away.
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Are there any major economic impacts involving stem cells?
Yes, the field is huge and many patents have been issued. Many companies have been started. A darker side to stem cell therapy, that really saddens legitimate scientists and doctors, is the great number of non-approved “Stem cell clinics” that pop up on the internet. These clinics are run by charlatans who just want to make money. They charge ludicrous amounts of money- around 40,000, and may not even give patients stem cells, and since everything is unregulated, it is best if they do not. Giving the wrong type of cell to a patient can have bad outcomes. These “clinics” are all outside of the USA, since our FDA would shut down such illegal and unapproved activity.
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Will the general population see stem cells in their everyday lives, say ten years from now?
Yes, prescriptions will be written for the novel stem cell therapies currently in clinical trials. Those who know anyone who has had a bone marrow or cord blood transplantation to restore the blood-forming hematopoietic system after leukemia or cancer definitely already have stem cell therapy in their lives.
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Do you think stem cells have potential to cure every single disease?
Not every disease, but many.
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What do you believe is the most controversial side to stem cell research?
The destruction of discarded embryos to make new embryonic stem cell lines is always the hot button topic. However the embryonic stem cells currently entering trials are those that were “Bush – approved” and have been pre-existing for over a decade. It takes that long to fully characterize a new line and move it into the clinic, knowing it will be safe for patients.
INTERVIEW 1
Jan Nolta, Ph. D
Professor, Director, Stem Cell Research Program, Director, UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures
UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures (IRC)