Atlanta Based Nonprofit CureCP.Org Announces 1st of Its Kind UTHealth Study for Cerebral Palsy Has Begun
(PRWEB) December 17, 2013 -- As one of the primary fund-raisers and promoters of this trial, CureCP.org is an honored collaborator and is very proud to announce that the first-of-its-kind clinical trial studying two forms of stem cell treatments for children with cerebral palsy (CP) has begun at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School.
The double-blinded, placebo-controlled study’s purpose includes comparing the safety and effectiveness of banked cord blood to bone marrow stem cells. It is led by Charles S. Cox, Jr., M.D., the Children’s Fund, Inc. Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the UTHealth Medical School and director of the Pediatric Trauma Program at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. Co-principal investigator is Sean I. Savitz, M.D., professor and the Frank M. Yatsu, M.D., Chair in Neurology in the UTHealth Department of Neurology.
The study builds on Dr.Cox extensive research studying stem cell therapy for children and adults who have been admitted to Children’s Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Prior research, published in the March 2010 issue of Neurosurgery, showed that stem cells derived from a patient’s own bone marrow were safely used in pediatric patients with TBI. Cox is also studying cord blood stem cell treatment for TBI in a separate clinical trial.
A total of 30 children between the ages of 2 and 10 who have CP will be enrolled: 15 who have their own cord blood banked at Cord Blood Registry (CBR) and 15 without banked cord blood. Five in each group will be randomized to a placebo control group. Families must be able to travel to Houston for the treatment and followup visits at 6, 12 and 24 months.
Parents will not be told if their child received stem cells or a placebo until the 12-month follow-up exam. At that time, parents whose children received the placebo may elect to have their child receive the stem cell treatment through bone marrow harvest or cord blood banked with CBR.
Collaborators for the study include Let’s Cure CP, CBR, TIRR Foundation and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.
To learn more about Let’s Cure CP and the work that we are doing in the Cerebral Palsy community visit us at http://www.curecp.org.
Media Inquiries only, please contact: Jeff Kitchens at jeff(at)letscurecp(dot)org or 706-654-3773.
For a list of inclusion and exclusion criteria for the trial, go to the clinicaltrials.gov website. For more information, call the toll-free number, 855-566-6273.
Jeff Kitchens, Let's Cure CP, http://www.letscurecp.org, +1 706-654-3773, [email protected]
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