The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) announced today that it has launched “A Closer Look at Stem Cell Treatments”, a website to arm patients, their families and doctors with information they need to make decisions about stem cell treatments. The Web site was developed in response to the growing number of aggressive marketing campaigns on the Internet and elsewhere offering stem cell treatments. The ISSCR urges individuals to be cautious and to learn the facts before making any decision.

“Stem cells do hold tremendous promise for the treatment of many serious diseases. Yet there are organizations out there that are preying on patients’ hopes, offering stem cell treatments – often for large sums of money – for conditions where the current science simply does not support its benefit or safety,” said Irving Weissman, president of the ISSCR. “We want to stress through this initiative that there are internationally accepted medical criteria for getting new medicines into clinics. Patients have a right to know if the clinic or treatment they are considering adheres to these criteria."

Currently there are only a small number of stem cell treatments that have been shown to be beneficial in rigorous studies. These mostly pertain to diseases or conditions of the blood as well as skin grafts and corneal repair. The ISSCR is concerned that stem cell treatments are being marketed to patients worldwide for a variety of medical conditions, without having the mechanisms in place to ensure safety or likely benefit. Without these safeguards, patients may be put at risk. ~ ISSCR press release, June 8