Liver damage trials break new ground

摘要

A Pioneering stem cell therapy designed to heal otherwise irreversible liver damage has started trials in Japan. A similar trial on people with cirrhosis is about to start in London. The need for new treatments is urgent. Cirrhosis kills 27,000 Americans each year, and one in 10 of the population, 25 million Americans, have liver-related diseases making it the seventh most common cause of death. For now, the only real hope for patients who suffer severe liver damage through heavy drinking or viral infections is a liver transplant from a matched donor. But waiting lists for livers are growing. In the US, 18, 500 patients await transplants. In the UK, the waiting list has more than doubled between 1994 and 2003, from 101 to 239, although around 600 people a year receive a transplant.