A leading expert in the treatment of autism announced groundbreaking new research -- already being written about internationally -- in Sacramento on Tuesday.
Dr. Michael Chez, the director of pediatric neurology at the Sutter Neuroscience Institute, will treat a group of patients with stem cells taken from their own umbilical cord blood. Chez and his team of researchers hope to determine whether the infusion of cord blood cells will help children who suffer from autism symptoms.
"I think it’s wonderful that they’re taking that step to go further," said Laurel Petersen, who has an autistic son. "I think more research needs to be done."
The research is the first of its kind because of the way it will be conducted, Chez said. He said prior studies -- done in other parts of the world -- used a pool of stem cells from many patients and were not done against a control group. In this study, each child will receive his or her own cord blood stem cells, he said. Also, stem cell infusions will be given to one group of children while a second group will not receive them at first, allowing a basis for comparison.
The study Chez is leading will begin this week, with 30 autistic patients between the ages of two to seven. Fifteen will be given the infusions and 15 will be given a placebo. Then, after six months, the two groups will switch, neither one knowing when they're receiving the stem cell infusions, nor when they're receiving the placebo.
Chez and the parents of autistic children are encouraged by the fact that infusions of cord blood stem cells have improved the life of a local boy, Rydr Rudgers, 4, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Three infusions of the cells have led to major improvements in Rydr’s life, including improved physical movement, speech, and the ability to pick up utensils and chew food, said his mother, Elisa Rudgers. She said that before the infusions, her son was fed with the use of a feeding tube.
"Actually being able to hold a fork, and eat a sandwich is, in our world, an unanticipated milestone, and it’s amazing," Rudgers said.
Results will become clear in 15 to 18 months, Chez said. Chez and his team will look for study participants from among children who have had their cord blood saved at Cord Blood Registry. CBR is paying for the study, which Chez said will cost roughly $700,000 to $800,000.
Saving a newborn's cord blood can cost thousands of dollars, which prevents many parents from being able to do it.
Chez said that limiting the age range of participants does not suggest that children older than seven could not someday benefit from stem cell therapy. However, he said that those who are youngest may display the most observable changes for study purposes.
"Because language is in a window where development after a certain age is unlikely to happen, we picked people between the age of two and seven because that's the more likely way to see language that is still more nervous system malleable," he said.