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Subretinal injection of human adult stem cells yields favorable results in atrophic AMD
MIAMI — Patients who experience vision loss due to geographic atrophy may respond favorably to a subretinal injection of human adult stem cell therapy, a speaker said here.
Allen C. Ho, MD, OSN Retina/Vitreous Board Member, said at Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2013 that stem cell therapy for atrophic age-related macular degeneration holds a promising future in ophthalmology.
In a study coauthored by Ho, 18 subjects were treated with the adult stem cell CNTO 2476. No cases of endophthalmitis occurred; three retinal detachments and five retinal tears were reported.
Preliminary data showed that only the patients with retinal detachments lost vision, while the other patients had positive visual outcomes.
To deliver the cells to the subretinal space near the geographic atrophy, a microsurgical delivery system is used, in which a microcatheter and an endoscope are employed.
Ho and colleagues will look at biomarkers to identify why some patients had improved visual acuity and others did not.
Disclosure: Ho receives research support from and is a consultant for Janssen/Johnson & Johnson.