multiple myeloma – cancer affecting cells called plasma cells.lymphoma – another type of cancer affecting white blood cells.leukaemia – a type of cancer affecting white blood cells.severe aplastic anaemia (bone marrow failure).Transplants can also be carried out to replace blood cells that are damaged or destroyed as a result of intensive cancer treatment.Ĭonditions that stem cell transplants can be used to treat include: Stem cell transplants are used to treat conditions in which the bone marrow is damaged and is no longer able to produce healthy blood cells. Why are stem cell transplants carried out? white blood cells – which help fight infectionĪ stem cell transplant involves destroying any unhealthy blood cells and replacing them with stem cells removed from the blood or bone marrow.
red blood cells – which carry oxygen around the body. The 3 main types of blood cell they can become are: Stem cells are special cells produced by bone marrow (a spongy tissue found in the centre of some bones) that can turn into different types of blood cells. It can be used to treat conditions affecting the blood cells, such as leukaemia and lymphoma. Please call the American Lung Association Lung HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA for additional questions about stem cell treatments and their potential use for lung diseases.A stem cell or bone marrow transplant replaces damaged blood cells with healthy ones. The American Lung Association has recently signed onto a statement along with a number of respiratory and thoracic societies, outlining the potential dangers and risks in using unregulated stem cell treatments for respiratory diseases. These can be found on the website of the National Institutes of Health at . We are hopeful that there will be more in the future. Although we understand this motivation, we still advise against the use of these unproven and often expensive therapies.īecause of the potential for harm, the lack of any proven benefit, and the high fees that many of these programs charge, we caution you not to participate in these or any other unauthorized or unapproved stem cell administrations, unless independent credible, reliable, and objective sources of information are available to substantiate the information and claims being made.Īdditionally, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued draft guidelines clarifying that stem cells are considered drugs and need to be reviewed through a rigorous approval process before being used in patients.Īt present, there are only a small number of approved clinical trials in the United States and Canada investigating cell therapy approaches for lung diseases. We understand that patients may be attracted to these therapies because they have severe, irreversible disease and are under great stress. We caution all patients to carefully consider the claims of benefit being made by many of these programs as they have not been substantiated or reviewed by experts in the field or any regulatory agency. You may come across information on the internet or other sources about stem cells being administered to patients with lung diseases, such as emphysema, pulmonary hypertension or pulmonary fibrosis. Until we know more, we are strongly concerned that the treatment could cause adverse effects and could worsen the patient's condition. However, as yet, there is very little known about the short and long-term effects of administering any type of stem cell therapy to patients with lung diseases. As we learn more about the therapeutic potential of stem cells and other cell therapies in clinical trials of non-lung diseases, we hope to be able to move toward further consideration of these approaches in lung diseases. 
The use of stem cells for treating lung diseases has great appeal.
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