In Depth: Regenerative medicine
LOS ANGELES - Segment one:
Joe Gantz is the Emmy award winning filmmaker of such films as American Winter, The Race to Save the World and now Ending Disease which focuses on ten clinical trials that show the potential of regenerative medicine.
Gantz talks to Hal about how he became interested in regenerative medicine such as stem cell and car-t therapies, how he wound up following ten clinical trials and the intimate stories of the patient fighting for their lives and wellbeing.
The documentary is available on demand on platforms such as iTunes or Google Play and at endingdisease.com. Raeleen Enger is one of the patients who has benefitted from regenerative therapies.
Raeleen was a patient at City of Hope years ago. She had leukemia that kept recurring. Treatment with car- t cells in 2017 changed her life. She spoke to Hal about how she got involved in the trial at City of Hope, her misgivings, and ultimately her success in beating cancer.
Segment two:
Dr. Irv Weissman is the director of the Stanford Institute for stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
He's been called the father of stem cell research – and he spoke to Hal about how he first discovered stem cells in the blood of a mouse and subsequently in a human.
He describes the "ah ha" moment when he realized the potential of the discovery. Weissman explains what makes stem cells unique and how they can be used in disease states for healing. Ellyn Perez was the first patient in doctor Weissman's clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer 22- years-ago. She had stage four cancer and the trial, though very experimental, was her best hope. After 22-years without a recurrence, Perez has high praise for the treatment. She shares her experience and her feelings.
Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.
Segment three:
City of Hope hematologist oncologist doctor Stephen Forman joins Hal at the hospital to discuss car-t therapy for blood cancers.
Forman explains that t- cells are part of our immune system that attack foreign invaders-- from viruses to cancer cells, however sometimes they don’t manage to stop cancer from invading the body. Forman says that the clinical research is intended to "re-energize" those cell, to reintroduce them to the body so that they target and kill cancer cells, and continue to do that for a lifetime.
Segment four:
We sum up with a sampling of the trailer for "Ending Disease."
Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.