A HEALTH expert on Wednesday warned that stem cell therapy can also kill.

Dr. Leo Olarte, spokesman of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine, said that if the stem cell that a patient received is from a donor, it could lead to fatal complications.

He said that a stem cell transplant can pose risks of complications, some potentially fatal, depending on many factors including the type of blood disorder, the type of transplant and the age and health of the person.

“Although some people experience few problems with a transplant, others may develop complications that may require treatment or hospitalization. Some complications could even be life-threatening,” warned Olarte, also the vice chairman of the Philippine Medical Association.

He said that such complications could be in the form of graft-versus-host disease (allogeneic transplant only), stem cell (graft) failure, organ injury, infections, cataracts, infertility, new cancers and even death.

Olarte said that anyone undergoing a transplant using stem cells from a donor (allogeneic stem cell transplant) may be at risk of graft-versus-host disease.

“This condition occurs when a donor’s transplanted stem cells attack your body. Graft-versus-host disease can be mild or severe. It can occur soon after your transplant or months to years later,” he added.

The doctor said that incompatibility can also lead to diseases of the skin (rash, often like sunburn), gut (mouth sores, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting), liver (jaundice or yellowing of the skin), lungs (blocked airways) or eyes (irritation and light sensitivity).

“It can lead to chronic disability due to organ injury or infections and can be life-threatening. Your doctor must monitor closely for signs and symptoms of graft-versus-host disease,” Olarte said.

Regulations
The Department of Health has stressed the necessity to come up with regulations for stem cell therapy in the country.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona earlier said that guidelines for clinics offering stem cell therapy will be released by the department and Food and Drug Administration because Philippine health authorities don’t know where the stem cell offered by clinics came from.

According to the Health agency, stem cell therapy belongs to the category of advanced cell therapy, which includes biologics and blood. Many countries around the world apply a risk-based approach to assess the quality, efficacy and safety of advanced cell therapy.

The Health department said that stem cell research employs both autologous (from same person), or allogenic (from another organism like animal or another human cell or tissue sample) method.

The secretary said that because there are many steps in the preparation of this invasive procedure, there is therefore need to have a regulatory framework to protect Filipinos.

The global demand for the use of stem cells as therapy in oncology, end-organ diseases and regenerative medicine is increasing.

In the Philippines, some clinics are offering stem cell for aesthetic purposes only.

The Health department, however, said that the use of stem cells for medical purposes such as treatment of malignancies, blood disorders, degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, metabolic diseases like diabetes and immune cell therapy are still under clinical evaluation.