Stem cell research has become a thorny issue for lawmakers because of the possibility of taking some of the cells from human embryos. As a result, funding for stem cell research initiatives is being hotly debated in Trenton.
Hoboken resident Jamie Needel is fighting to make people aware of the importance of stem cell technology in general – after all, it saved her life.
For Needel, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2003, normal chemotherapy wasn’t enough to kill her cancer. Only by transplanting her own adult stem cells, which allowed for more aggressive chemotherapy, was she able to push her cancer into remission.
For the past several months, she has been traveling around the state telling her story in hopes that she can persuade lawmakers to fund research for both adult and embryonic stem cell research in New Jersey and across the country.
Saved by the cells
To understand why she is so passionate about the possibly of stem cell technology, it’s important know her story.
In the beginning of 2003, Needel just didn’t feel right. The normally energetic then-26-year-old special education teacher felt lethargic and run down.
“It was difficult to get through my daily routine, because I was so fatigued,” said Needel, an avid runner and athlete. “At first I thought it was allergies, or asthma, or whatever bug was going around at the time.”
But a few weeks later, a golf ball-sized lump appeared on her neck.
She went to go see the doctor, and immediately there was cause for concern. Three days later, in February of 2003, Needel was told she had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of her lymphatic system.
The timing of this news couldn’t have been worse. Needel was supposed to be married to her now-husband Jerry that June, but the doctors told her the cancer treatment would be far too harsh. They moved the wedding up to March 1, and four days later she started chemotherapy.
“That’s quite the honeymoon,” Needel said.
But five months of chemotherapy didn’t work, and her cancer began to grow back. It was a dark time for Needel, Jerry, and her family.
But there was another treatment option available called an autologous stem cell transplant. She went to the medical center at Yale in New Haven, Conn., which was close to family’s home, to receive the stem cell transplants.
This cutting-edge treatment involved the utilization of higher doses of chemotherapy than normal in an attempt to kill more cancer cells than moderate-dose therapy.
But while this higher dose kills the cancer, it also kills more normal cells in the body, including white and red blood cells. Low levels of blood cells can leave patients susceptible to infection or excessive bleeding.
Patients can have their own stem cells collected prior to therapy. This is a painless process where Needel gave blood, which was put into a centrifuge, frozen, and re-infused following therapy to restore blood cells.
Stem cells have two characteristics that distinguish them from other types of cells. First, they are unspecialized cells that renew themselves through cell division. Second, under certain conditions, they can be induced to become cells with special functions, such as the white blood cells of the lymphatic system.
But her procedure wasn’t without major risks.
The incredibly high level of chemotherapy basically kills the immune system. Even after the stem cells are transplanted back into the body, it takes about a week for them to start growing back. So, essentially, Needel went an entire week without an immune system. She was on high doses of antibiotics and antifungal medication to fight off possible infections.
During the treatment, she became sick. But then white and blood cells from the transplant slowly started growing, and she slowly started to feel better. About five weeks later, she was healthy enough to undergo radiation treatments.
Finally, after a year of treatment, her cancer went into remission in March of 2004.
“I wouldn’t be alive today without a stem cell transplant,” Needel said. “They couldn’t have given me the level of chemotherapy that was needed to get me into remission without it.”
Today in New Jersey
Needel was saved by a transplant of her own adult stem cells, and certainly sings the praises of treatments using adult stem cells. But that said she believes that the prospects of embryonic stem cell research should not be overlooked as well.
It is embryonic stem cell research that is controversial – since it means taking cells from human embryos that theoretically could have grown into human beings. The cells are actually taken from unused embryos from in vitro fertilization, but it is the concept that causes a moral and ethical dilemma for pro-life advocates.
But some say that embryonic cells are easier to work with. Advocates say the cells are significantly more malleable than adult stem cells, which are already partially differentiated.
Can Needel be an advocate for funding for the research of adult stem cells at the same time as the controversial use the cells from human embryos?
Absolutely, said Needel. She said that both have amazing potential. “A six-day-old collection of cells in a Petri dish is not a human being,” she said.
But Needel notes that the science of using adult stem cells a decade ago was crude, as is our understanding of embryonic stem cells today.
Now, there are nearly 100 conditions that are treatable using non-embryonic stem cell therapies including leukemia and sickle cell anemia.
“That why the funding for [embryonic] stem cell research is so important now,” she said. “It will take years to sufficiently understand them, and to even test whether the promise inherent in them can be fulfilled.”
She recently presented this message at a conference of the League of Women Voters.
The pro and con
In America, the dispute rages. In August 2001, President George Bush banned the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. Federal policy also restricts access to many discarded embryos.
This has left public funding up to the states to provide, with New Jersey and California leading the way.
In New Jersey, use of state money to perform embryonic stem cell research was legalized in January of 2004.
Hudson County legislators played a huge role in getting stem cell research approved, with State Assembly Speaker Albio Sires and State Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny of Hoboken taking the lead.
On the horizon
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey has a proposal to invest $380 million to help New Jersey and the United States play catchup with Europe when it comes to stem cell research. Codey unveiled his stem cell research proposal during his State of the State address in mid-January.
In Codey’s plan, $230 million would come in the form new bonding for research grants. But to make this happen, the legislature must pass a referendum for the $230 million bond proposal to be on the ballot in November.
This hasn’t happened yet. If this bill is not acted on by June 30, the bond issue cannot get on the ballot this November.
With the gubernatorial election, Needel said that there are concerns from stem cell activists that the political waters are too choppy to bring up such a controversial issue.
Also under the proposal, $150 million in unspent bond money will be used to build and equip a New Jersey Institute for Stem Cell Research in New Brunswick.
Needel said that the sooner this funding is passed, the sooner new treatment options using stem cells will be available for aliments such as diabetes, stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, and spinal cord injuries.
“Stem cell research has been around for a long time, especially in other countries, but the United States has fallen far behind the curve,” she said. “Other countries are putting a lot more money, backing this research.”
How’s she doing now?
“I mostly feel good now,” Needel said, although she does have a lingering thyroid condition and significant lung damage from the harsh chemotherapy treatments.
Needel is now working four days a week for her husband’s company, Buzzmetrics in New York City, an Internet research company. She also tutors Hoboken elementary school children several days a week and hopes to, not in the too distant future, return to regular teaching.
“I’m in a good place right now, and hope my experiences will persuade other to support stem cell research,” she said.