Fetal Stem Cells Cause a Tumor in a Young Patient

WASHINGTON (Inside Catholic) - A sad -- and unnerving -- story out of Israel:

"A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells--injections that triggered tumors in the boy's brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported Tuesday.

"Scientists are furiously trying to harness different types of stem cells--the building blocks for other cells in the body--to regrow damaged tissues and thus treat devastating diseases. But for all the promise, researchers have long warned that they must learn to control newly injected stem cells so they don't grow where they shouldn't, and small studies in people are only just beginning.

"Tuesday's report in the journal PLoS Medicine is the first documented case of a human brain tumor--albeit a benign, slow-growing one--after fetal stem cell therapy, and hammers home the need for careful research. The journal is published by the Public Library of Science."

Obviously, any "highly experimental" treatment could have scary and unpredictable results like this, in which regard embryonic stem cells are not unique. Still, you can't help but notice the slightly desperate tone from those defending ESCR here: "Sure, it caused a tumor, but it was a slow-growing tumor!" Oh, well, in that case...

I also don't recall researchers having "long warned" the general population about the risks inherent in ESC therapies. Instead, all you ever seem to hear is that we must finance these studies now -- that pausing to consider ethical implications is a dangerous waste of time when we could be curing untold numbers of terminal diseases with this miracle procedure... In short, the kind of talk that most likely lead this Israeli family to consider such a risky procedure in the first place.

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