Research Article
Flood JS, Yung CF, Roy K, Salm
Abstract
Background: Research into stem cell therapy to treat many chronic conditions is ongoing, and has triggered a ‘stem cell tourism’ phenomenon whereby individuals travel to receive unproven therapies. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) (now Public Health England was informed in 2007 of an incident where United Kingdom (UK) residents had received unscreened stem cells in the Republic of Ireland. A patient-notification exercise (lookback) was launched to test recipients for blood-borne infections. Methods: Patients were identified, located and contacted via their physicians. After obtaining patient consent, serum samples were obtained from patients and sent for testing at the HPA. Results were returned to patients and their physicians. Results: Of 59 UK residents who received stem cells in the Republic of Ireland, 42 consented to testing. Of these 59 individuals, forty were confirmed to be negative for all infections; two patients required further testing to assess initially reactive/equivocal results, but declined, and twelve patients declined testing or were untraceable. Conclusions: Stem cell tourism exposes vulnerable patients to unnecessary risks and demonstrates a clear misalignment of public/patient understanding and scientific findings. It is of major public health importance to question the source and donor screening of stem cells when unregulated ‘treatments’ are offered.