Prof Da Cruz, of London’s Moorfield Eye Hospital, said: “This has the potential to be a treatment”.
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The unnamed 60-year-old, who had age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects one in 25 people, has so far suffered no complications.
Retinal surgeon Lyndon Da Cruz, who is performing the operations, said he hoped many patients “will benefit in the future from transplantation of these cells”.
‘This has the potential to be a treatment rather than being theoretical proof’.
Scientists at the hospital took a single stem cell from an embryo and grew it in the lab. While the treatment now is meant to aid the more serious “wet” form of the disease, it’s thought that in time it can be adapted to combat the other more prevalent form, too.
AMD occurs when a group of cells towards the back of the eye – called the retinal pigment epithelium cells – become damaged.
‘The start of a trial using cells derived from embryonic stem cells for wet AMD is an important landmark and in time will help to establish the true potential of this type of therapy’.
This first operation has begun a clinical trial involving ten patients.
In the breakthrough developed at University College London, doctors inserted a patch of stem cells into the retina of a woman who has lost her central vision.
Clara Eaglen, from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said: “We are hopeful that stem cell technology will significantly change the way in which people with sight loss are treated over the next decade.”It is early days yet but this development does show that stem cells can be successfully transplanted into the eye, which is a great step forward”.
Professor Pete Coffey of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, added: ‘We are tremendously pleased to have reached this stage in the research for a new therapeutic approach.
In macular degeneration, the RPE cells die, and as a result the eye loses function. Sometimes it can be rapid, as with wet AMD.
Reading becomes hard, colours appear less vibrant and people’s faces are hard to recognise. Back in 2009, Pfizer – the U.S. pharmaceutical giant – also joined and provided with research.
He explained that using the patient’s own cells was complex and carried risks, which is why the London Project opted for the embryonic stem cell line, which can produce a limitless supply of specialist cells.
In 2012, patients with Stargardt’s disease – which leads to progression deterioration of vision – were injected with embryonic stem cells in a safety trial carried out in the United States and UK – which also involved a team at Moorfields. Wet AMD, which is less common than dry AMD, is generally caused by abnormal blood vessels that leak fluid or blood into a region in center of the retina.
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The condition does not now have a cure.
