Cell therapy helps diabetics not need insulin injections

According to a report by the Geneva University Hospital (HUG), Switzerland, a diabetic woman has been living for 10 years without having to inject insulin through cell therapy.

The transplantation of allocated cells in the pancreas has allowed female patients to live since 1997 without diabetes problems, taking a world record of time. Most patients treated with this therapy must return insulin after a few years.

The islands of Langerhans are also called pancreatic islet cells.(Photo: HTV)

Grafting cells called ' Langerhans islets ' is done by simple injection with local anesthesia. This intervention is softer than pancreatic transplantation, allowing for the healing of most cases but often with complications.

The transplantation of Langerhans has allowed nearly 80% of patients to stop injecting insulin. According to HUG, this could be a future therapy in treating type 1 diabetes.

The University Hospital of Geneva conducted the first Langerhans island transplant in 1992. Since then, the hospital has made many significant advances in this technology, in collaboration with a network of 8 French hospitals. So far there have been 74 transplant cases, including 42 in France and 32 in Switzerland.

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