On October 15, 2018 Gina Kolata of the NY Times published an article detailed Harvard University’s retraction of dozens of articles by cardiologist Dr. Piero Anversa. Dr. Anversa has published about 31 studies detailing how mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow could be injected to regenerate cardiac (heart) muscle tissue. If true, the scientific find would have been revolutionary as a potential new treatment for patients who suffer heart attacks or other cardiac diseases. However, after a review that started in 2013, Harvard Medical School and Brigham And Women’s Hospital ultimately had to agree to pay $10 million dollars to the federal government to settle accusations that Dr. Anversa submitted fake data to get federal research funding. The additional issue was that no other reputable lab could ever repeat the amazing results reported by Dr. Anversa. The articles have essentially all been retracted and even co-authors have verified that the data they generated did not match reports published. Unfortunately there are still companies selling stem cell therapy as a treatment for injured hearts and there is even a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute clinical trial still enrolling patients to have stem cells injected as a treatment for heart failure.
Click the link for the NY Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/health/piero-anversa-fraud-retractions.html
Common questions
- What actually happened with the Harvard stem cell research?
- Harvard retracted dozens of papers by cardiologist Piero Anversa, reported by Gina Kolata in the New York Times on October 15, 2018. Anversa had published about 31 studies claiming mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow could regenerate heart muscle. Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital agreed to pay $10 million to the federal government to settle accusations that fake data was submitted to obtain federal research funding.
- Does this mean bone marrow stem cells do not work for anything?
- No. The retracted work was about regenerating heart muscle after cardiac injury, not about orthopedic use in joints and tendons. What the case does show is that no other reputable lab could reproduce Anversa's results, and that co-authors confirmed the data they generated did not match what was published. Reproducibility is the test any stem cell claim should be held to.
- Are companies still selling stem cell treatment for heart conditions?
- Yes. Companies continued selling stem cell therapy as a treatment for injured hearts after the retractions, and a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute clinical trial was still enrolling patients for stem cell injections in heart failure. A retraction removes a paper from the literature. It does not remove the products and trials that the paper helped inspire.
