GOOD LONG-TERM RESULTS WITH EDMONTON PROTOCOL

            James Shapiro MD had good news to share at the Experimental Biology 2001 meeting in Orlando, Florida in April, about his team’s experience with islet cell transplantation at the university of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada- the now well known Edmonton protocol.

Twelve of the 15 patients with unstable diabetes who underwent islet cell transplantation have remained insulin independent –some for more than 2 years. However, Dr. Shapiro, stressed the fact that islet cell transplantation was only for patients with brittle (poorly controlled) disease who had wide swings in serum glucose levels. In this subpopulation, the procedure did not work, the patient simply resumed insulin therapy.