For cancer patients not responding to conventional treatments like surgery, radioactivity and chemotherapy, Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad has introduced the option of autologous stem cell transplant. The treatment, which is not recommended for older patients and those with too many health complications, is supposed to be the best treatment for young cancer patients.

“A lot of patients from Gujarat travel to Vellore and Chennai for specialised cancer treatment. Now, they will have the option to try the most advanced cancer treatment in their own city,” said Preetha Reddy, the director of Apollo hospitals.

Stem cell research is expected to herald miracle cures in neurology, cardiology, diabetes, and arthritis which are still incurable. However, the use of stem cells has only proven to be completely effective and approved in the case of blood diseases.

For the first time in the state, autologous stem cell transplant has been used in the treatment of lymphoma and leukaemia. Until now, two patients have been treated successfully using this treatment and two more patients will undergo the stem cell transplant soon.

“While the stem cell transplant is almost as costly as conventional drug therapies, the cure rates are slightly higher being around 70 percent,” says Dr Chirag Shah, haemato-oncologist at Apollo hospital, Ahmedabad. After the transplant, the patient requires around a month’s stay in the hospital and minimum medication. The expense of chemotherapy is completely done away with in this treatment.

The Apollo Hospital is also planning to set up its first umbilical cord stem cell bank in Ahmedabad. “By the year end, we will have a state-of-the-art cord blood stem cell bank here. The project is going to cost us around US $ 15-20 million.” The stem cell bank will have a huge pool of cord-blood stem cells which can be supplied to those in need not only all over the country but also all over the world.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com

Google's stock price burst the USD 600 barrier for the first time after favourable reports on its business potential stoked investor appetite for its already pricey shares.

The Internet search giant's shares closed up 2.6 per cent

at USD 609.62 after smashing through USD 600 in morning

trades on Monday. Its share price has now been multiplied by

seven since its debut just over three years ago.

It latest price gains came after analysts at Bear Stearns, a Wall Street investment bank, said in a research report on Friday that Google's stock could soar to USD 625 by the end of the year.

The analysts said Google is continuing to gain market share in the highly competitive online search marketplace.

They believe Google's stock price could strike USD 700 by the end of 2008.

Other industry analysts are also ratcheting up their expectations for the Mountain View, California, based technology firm.

Analysts at Nollenberger Capital Partners said in report, also released on Friday, that Google has been performing so well that it's prior earnings estimates for the company were likely too conservative.

"Beyond the near term there remains a wealth of untapped opportunity for Google in both the mobile advertising arena as well as in display advertising," the Nollenberger analysts wrote.

The upbeat assessments could not have come at a better time for Google which is due to release its third quarter earnings on October 18.

- Courtesy : Expressindia.com