Stem cells for lupus

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys.

The body's immune system normally makes proteins called antibodies to protect the body against viruses, bacteria and other foreign materials. In lupus, these antibodies mistake normal cells in the body’s tissues for foreign bodies and attack them. For most people, lupus is a mild disease affecting only a few organs. For others, it may cause serious and even life-threatening problems.

The exact cause of lupus is unknown. More than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year. According to the Lupus Foundation of America, between 500,000 and 1.5 million Americans are living with lupus -- mostly women. Three-times as many black women develop lupus and die from it than white women. They also tend to develop the disease at a younger age and to develop more serious complications. Lupus is also more common in women of Hispanic, Asian and Native American descent.

Although lupus symptoms vary widely among affected individuals, here are some tell tale signs: achy or swollen joints, persistent fever of more than 100 degrees, prolonged or extreme fatigue, skin rashes, including a butterfly shaped rash across the cheeks and nose, pain in the chest upon deep breathing, anemia, excessive protein in the urine, sensitivity to sun or ultraviolet light, hair loss, abnormal blood clotting problems, fingers turning white and/or blue in the cold, seizures, and mouth or nose ulcers lasting longer than two weeks.

For the vast majority of people with lupus, effective treatment can minimize symptoms, reduce inflammation, and maintain normal body functions. Medications are often prescribed for people with lupus, depending on which organs are involved, and the severity of involvement. Commonly prescribed medications include: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, corticosteroids, antimalarials, and immunomodulating drugs. With current methods of therapy, between 80 percent and 90 percent of people with non-organ threatening lupus can look forward to a normal lifespan.

For patients with severe lupus, affecting organs like the heart, treatment may not do any good. Now, researchers are using stem cells to treat life-threatening, treatment-resistant lupus. Patients undergo a transplant of blood stem cells originated from their own marrow. The lupus then actually goes into remission. Of the 50 patients involved in the study out of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, 50 percent were disease-free after five years. Overall, there was an 84 percent five-year survival rate.

"Fortunately, the majority of patients with lupus can be successfully managed with our available medical therapies. However, for the very severely ill subset of lupus patients who have failed conventional therapies, stem cell transplantation provides a promising new alternative,” rheumatologist Dr. Walter Barr said.

The stem cell transplant literally saved the lives of some of the patients in the study. The procedure costs about $100,000 but insurance will sometimes cover it.

Stem Cells Being Used To Help Battle Lupus

Stem cells may hold promise for curing many diseases. Edjuana Ross can once again enjoy shopping after beating lupus, a disease she battled for more than a decade. I had extreme joint pain, and every single day I was sick and tired," said Ross. Lupus attacked Ross’ immune system and scarred her face. The disease damaged her heart and caused three strokes. The treatment for the disease was almost as hard, as cortisone that Ross was given caused her to gain nearly 100 pounds. "It took a lot for me just to get out of bed," said Ross.

Dr. Richard Burt from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago recommended an adult stem cell transplant with the goal of fixing her immune system. "What we're doing is rebooting the computer. So the computer's gone on the blitz and we've rebooted it, and now it's working," said Burt. First, patients have blood removed to harvest the stem cells. Next, chemotherapy destroys the existing, broken immune system. Patients are then given stem cells to build a new immune system. Burt added, "The patients we've treated, many of them have their lives back." In Burt’s study, about half of patients who had the procedure done are now free of lupus, Ross being one of the patients. "It changed my life and it made my life better, and it made me appreciate a lot of other things," said Ross. Slimmed down and feeling better, Ross is now looking forward to her lupus-free future. The treatment is now the subject of testing for individuals with other diseases like multiple sclerosis and diabetes. However, risks can include the need for possible blood transfusions, infections, nausea and the risk of becoming sterile.

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