For the first time in the world - stem cells from the placenta saved the life of a cancer patient at Hadassah Hospital

The cells, which were developed in the laboratories of the Israeli company Pluristem in Haifa, were injected into a 54-year-old woman with lymphoma type cancer who suffered from a lack of bone marrow. Following the dramatic improvement, she was taken out of isolation and even released from the hospital. This is the second time that compassionate treatment has been given with stem cells from the placenta: about three months ago, the cells saved the life of a 7-year-old girl from Romania who suffered from bone marrow failure

The life of a 54-year-old cancer patient from the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center was saved after she received experimental treatment from stem cells from the placenta, which were developed in the laboratories of the Haifa-based Pluristem company. The woman, who suffered from lymphoma type cancer, was first treated with acute chemotherapy. Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she needed a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow transplant, along with other strong treatments, failed. As a result, the woman suffered from persistent and dangerous pancytopenia, a condition in which the count of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets is very low. As a last resort to save her life, the doctor treating her, Prof. Reuven Or, turned to the Haifa company Pluristem, and asked to give her compassionate treatment with stem cells from the placenta.

After receiving approval from the Helsinki Committee of the Ministry of Health (which approves experimental treatments), the woman was injected with the stem cells developed at the Haifa Bio Medicine Company. A few weeks after the injection, there was a dramatic improvement in the woman's condition, her hematological parameters (blood count) improved beyond recognition, until she was taken out of isolation and recently even released from the hospital to her home.

This is the second time in Israel (and in the world in general) that compassionate treatment with stem cells from the placenta has been given: about three months ago, the cells saved the life of a 7-year-old girl from Romania who suffered from bone marrow failure, after the doctors treating her at Hadassah Hospital turned to Pluristem to give her the treatment.

Prof. Reuven Or, Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Department and Immunology Cancer Department at the Hadassah Medical Center, said today: "This is a real breakthrough - the patient was in isolation due to low levels of white blood cells and as a result was at high risk of contracting infections. In addition, her red blood cells as well as platelets were very low, which led to a real danger to her life. Also, the independent (autologous) bone marrow transplant she received was not taken up. As a last resort, we applied for compassionate care with the Lepluristem PLX cells, based on our previous experience with these cells. The treatment with the PLX cells saved her life and this seems like a medical miracle. The results of this unique case show that stem cells from the placenta may be effective in the treatment of cancer patients whose severe treatments cause severe damage to their bone marrow, and who underwent a bone marrow transplant."

How It Works? Tests done on the woman showed that the stem cells from the placenta worked by stimulating the recovery of the stem cells in the bone marrow, which originated from the transplant she received several months before.

In September 2011, Pluristem announced the results of experiments on animals, which indicate the potential effectiveness of the stem cells from the placenta in the treatment of radiation victims, which also leads to bone marrow failure (similar to the situation that often occurs after initiated radiation in cancer patients, for example, or in radiation disasters).

Zami Aberman, CEO of Pluristem, said today: "This is the second time our cells have saved the lives of patients in Israel, in addition to the good results we have received so far in our clinical studies. It is hard to describe our feeling of joy, when years of hard work, research and clinical trials bring a real balm to human suffering. The good results of the two injections we performed in patients at Hadassah Hospital indicate a significant potential of the stem cells from the placenta to treat severe cases of bone marrow failure, and we continue to promote research in this area so that the treatment will be accessible to the patient public as soon as possible."

The Israeli biomedical company Pluristem, which is based in Haifa, has for several years been engaged in the development of drugs from stem cells derived from the placenta of women after childbirth. In addition to pre-clinical animal research to test the effect of stem cells on radiation victims suffering from bone marrow failure, the company is currently at the peak of human trials to treat additional indications using the cells it has developed. For example, the stem cells from the placenta showed significant potential for the treatment of severe atherosclerosis in the lower limbs, and led to the prevention of limb amputations among patients who were candidates for amputation, following the disease.