First U.S. Patient Gets Stem Cell Trachea Transplant

[Shadow]

Christopher Lyles, 30, of Abingdon, Md, exhausted the limited treatment options available in the U.S. for his tracheal cancer. But Lyles read about an experimental tracheal transplant procedure surgeons performed in Europe using adult stem cells.
"Every surgeon told me it was inoperable," said Lyles. "It was hard to hear that."
Lyles reached out to Dr. Paolo Macchiarini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Macchiarini), director of the Advanced Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who was the head surgeon in previous transplant cases.
After a 12 hour procedure in Sweden, Lyles was breathing through a lab grown windpipe that doctors fashioned from his own stem cells.
Doctors regenerated tissue from Lyles' bone marrow stem cells to create a trachea biologically identical to Lyles' original organ. Lyle underwent the transplant in November and arrived back home Wednesday.
Within three months, Lyles was able to eat and speak on his own, he said.
"I'm going one step further every day," said Lyle.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/us-patient-artifical-trachea-transplant/story?id=15354809

[PostmodernProphet]

I'm glad to see this procedure used adult stem cells......

[Shadow]

From what I gather the patients own stem cells were used to create the tissue (the two seperate types needed). Apparently they have been doing these transplants for awhile in stockholm for lung cancer patients. Pretty pricey though, around $300,000. This man was lucky that his friends and family could raise that amount of money,this is yet another treatment not covered by insurance yet.