Authorities are warning of the risks of unproven stem cell treatments available in Australia and overseas after the death of an Australian woman in Russia.
Brisbane mother-of-two Kellie van Meurs travelled to Moscow for treatment for a rare neurological disorder called Stiff Person Syndrome but died from a heart attack while undergoing the controversial treatment on July 19.
Her death - and the continued marketing of stem cell tourism by groups including Adult Stem Cell Foundation - prompted warnings that many of the therapies on offer are untested and not accepted by mainstream science.
Stem Cells Australia's head of education, ethics, law and community awareness Megan Munsie said a proliferation of private clinics combined with a growing consumer base was a potentially dangerous mix.
''This sad case illustrates that some people are prepared to take the risk,'' she said. ''But people should balance their high hopes with the acknowledgement that there is a risk.''
She also cautioned that treatment decisions should be based more on the advice of medical professionals than the experiences outlined in social media, which was flush with success stories and often failed to reflect reality.
In December the country's main medical research funding body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, released a guide for patients and doctors highlighting the risks associated with unproven stem cell treatments in Australia and overseas.
The council’s chief executive Warwick Anderson said if patients were willing to participate in unproved procedures, they should sign up for a registered clinical trial.
There are more than 200 registered clinical trials underway around the world investigating the role stem cells may play in the various systems of the human body, including lung and kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, type 1 and 2 diabetes, prostate and liver cancer.
Risks of unproven stem cell treatments include allergic reaction or rejection of the cells by the patient’s immune system and the development of cancer, both of which can be fatal.
According to the NHMRC, the only stem cell treatment currently considered safe and effective is blood stem cell transplantation to treat certain blood and immune system disorders.
MS Australia has also warned of the high risks associated with treatments such as autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HSCT, which Kellie van Meurs was receiving in Moscow.
Commonly associated with multiple sclerosis, HSCT involves rebooting a patient’s immune system with their own stem cells after high-dose chemotherapy.
Australians seeking stem cell treatments travel widely. Among the countries offering procedures are Russia, Thailand, India, China and the Bahamas.
''It’s a commercial operation,'' Professor Munsie said. ''We are concerned that patients don’t always see that there’s a conflict of interest. The person who is selling them a treatment is the person offering them advice.''
The Queensland-based Adult Stem Cell Foundation deals with clinics in Shanghai, Bangkok and Moscow.
''We support HSCT. But we say it has limitations and it’s not for everybody,'' executive director Bruce Lahey said.
''We’ve done the due diligence on the clinics we send our people to and we’ve never had one serious adverse event.''
