Stem cell op could bring back sight for millions

UK breakthrough for age-related illness may reach NHS in 2½ years

A REVOLUTIONARY operation that promises to restore the sight of millions has been carried out in a world-first for a British hospital.

Taking as little as 45 minutes, the surgery offers hope to those with age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults globally.

It affects more than 600,000 adults in the country, blighting the lives of a quarter of the over-60s.

In the breakthrough developed at University College London, doctors inserted a patch of stem cells created in the laboratory into the retina of a woman who had lost her central vision.

They hope the procedure, carried out at Moorfields Eye Hospital in the capital, will restore the 60-year- old’s sight but will not know the outcome until December.

However, doctors said she suffered no complications after the surgery and her eye is recovering well from the procedure.

This first operation has begun a clinical trial involving ten patients. If successful, the technique could become available on the NHS within two-and-ahalf years.

The procedure, which has attracted the support of medical giant Pfizer, is carried out under local anaesthetic. It involves taking a single embryonic stem cell and growing it into a 6mm patch of 100,000 retinal pigment cells.

That patch is then rolled into

‘Tremendously pleased’

a thin tube, which is injected through a tiny slit in the eye.

Once unfurled, it is placed behind the retina where scientists hope it will replace the faulty cells.

The operation is a milestone in the London Project to Cure Blindness established ten years ago with the aim of curing vision loss in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

The first step has been carried out on the wet form of the condition when a patient bleeds at the back of the eye. But scientists are confident it could also be used for the more common dry AMD, which affects 85 per cent of British sufferers.

Retinal surgeon Professor Lyndon Da Cruz, who conducted the operation, said: ‘There is real potential that people with wet age-related macular degeneration will benefit in the future from transplantation of these cells.

‘ The reason we are very excited is that we have been able to create these very spe- cific cells and been able to transfer them to the patient. It’s the combination of being able to create the cells that are missing and demonstrate that we can safely transplant them.’

Professor Pete Coffey, of UCL, who developed the science behind the technology, said that if the procedure gains accelerated approval then the patch could be available on the NHS within two-and-a-half years.

‘We are tremendously pleased to have reached this stage in the research,’ he said.

‘ There are nearly 700,000 patients with AMD in the UK. That’s a huge population which could benefit – it is the same number with Alzheimer’s.’

The condition occurs when the cells at the middle of the retina become damaged, resulting in a loss of central vision.

Stem cells are blank cells capable of being reprogrammed to transform into any cell in the body, meaning they can replace damaged tissue. In this case,

‘There is real potential’

the stem cells were taken from donated embryos created during IVF treatment but never used.

Last year, American doctors published results of a study in which they injected loose stem cells into the eye. But that project only aimed to show the technique was safe and was not aimed at reversing sight loss. Experts last night welcomed the breakthrough.

Professor Anthony Hollander, of Liverpool University, said: ‘The UK should be very proud of its long-term investment in stem cell research and the benefits are starting to come through.

‘The start of a trial using cells derived from embryonic stem cells for wet AMD is an important landmark and in time will help to establish the true potential of this type of therapy.’

Science minister George Freeman said: ‘This treatment is a sign of the UK’s world-class life science sector and the potential of the NHS to be a partner in research and innovation.’