UMCG extension
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This week, the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) treated a patient with stem cells from his own salivary glands. The UMCG claims to be the first hospital in the Netherlands to have performed this treatment.
On Wednesday, a 43-year-old man received the treatment. A tongue tumor was found earlier this year. He underwent surgery at UMCG, during which part of his saliva glands were also removed. Stem cells were cultured from the removed salivary glands.
With those cultured mini salivary glands or salivary gland organoids, humans recovered their own cells through an injection. With this he should get his salivary glands working again and not suffer from dry mouth.
Every year, about 2,500 people get cancer in the head and neck region, the hospital writes. Many patients can be treated with radiation, but in 40% of them, the salivary glands no longer function properly after treatment.
As a result, they suffer from dry mouth, have difficulty chewing and swallowing, and their taste decreases. Even speaking is often difficult and the teeth are damaged.
Follow up study
Whether the treatment will work remains to be seen. UMCG radiotherapy professor Rob Coppes hopes to be able to determine that next year.
“This study should serve as a ‘proof of principle’ that such a treatment is feasible and safe. If we find a positive effect, we will treat patients with other cancer sites in a follow-up study who are also at risk of developing a dry mouth.” after radiation therapy,” says Coppens.
“If successful, the so-called organoid technology could also be applied to other tissues.”
