Posted on 04/07/2005 5:11:46 AM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
Dog gets stem cell transplant
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. (AP) -- Darrell and Nina Hallett love their dog Comet and have reached deeply into their wallets to prove it.
The couple spent $45,000 on a stem cell transplant for their golden retriever, who is recovering from lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the immune system.
Dr. Edmund Sullivan, a Bellingham veterinarian, performed the transplant last summer, using stem cells from another golden retriever.
Sue Hendrickson, a friend of the Halletts, owns Comet's mother and 11 other dogs. She spent months tracking down 40 of Comet's relatives to donate blood, eventually finding three perfect matches.
She flew to Florida to get Rico, the biggest of the three and the one who could yield the most stem cells, and delivered him to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which donated advice and facilities for the transplant.
The cancer center has performed hundreds of bone-marrow or stem-cell transplants on dogs over the past four decades, as researchers perfected techniques used to treat cancer in humans.
Comet's transplant happened in June. After a long, steady recovery, he appears to be showing signs that he's been cured.
"If she broke her little leg she would have all the surgery she needed (within reason)...."
I agree. Treating a dog for a broken leg is one thing. I would certainly do that. Maybe anything that is quickly mendable or short-term. But cancer treatments for a dog . . . .
I can understand someone's love for a pet, but when I think of so many humans who lack the money to treat serious & life-threatening disorders, I can never go that far.
I have frequently seen patients recover their hair after chemotherapy. It is not unusual for the hair to come back thick, dark and curley.
I do not know why. It just happens now and then.
I think in the long run, we will be using family matches. What I believe they are trying to do with the embryos is to get neutral organs which don't require a "match". It amounts to creating "organ factories" which is "sick". The problem remains that when they coax these embyos, they still use mice for "hosts" and that means the possibility of mixed species. That little item is hidden in some old text which I did find on the web at one time and I believe they were part of congressional hearings.
I'm glad you friend recovered. I don't know if the DNA is truly mixed afterwords or it's as Tasman said that it's not uncommon after therapy. If so, family donors would seem the ideal.
I have to disagree with your statement above though. An 'organ factory' is a crude name, but is not sick in itself. Growing a new organ for those in need is an ideal solution over the harvesting of body parts after death.
The methods and sources of those organs can indeed be sick, evidenced in the liberal wish to collect human children to do so. It stands though if a new organ is possible then an acceptable way should be found to do it.
Totally agreed. This is the most success I've ever heard about any stem cell treatment. I'm glad they did it and it has been reported. Good for them.
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