Eight years ago, doctors took nasal tissue samples
and grafted them onto the spines of 20
quadriplegics. The idea was that stem cells within
the nasal tissue might turn into neurons that could

help repair the damaged spinal cord, and the
experiment actually worked a few of the patients,
who regained a little bit of sensation. But it didn't
go well for one woman in particular, who not only
didn't experience any abatement in her paralysis,
but recently started feeling pain at the site of the
implant. When doctors took a closer look, they
realized she was growing the beginnings of a nose
on her spine, New Scientist reports.
The surgeons removed a 3-centimeter-
long growth, which was found to be
mainly nasal tissue, as well as bits of
bone and tiny nerve branches that had
not connected with the spinal nerves.
The growth wasn't cancerous, but it
was secreting a "thick copious mucus-
like material", which is probably why it
was pressing painfully on her spine,
says Brian Dlouhy at the University of
Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City,
the neurosurgeon who removed the
growth.
This is hardly the first case of adverse side effects
from a stem cell transplant. The New Scientist
article points to several cases where people
developed tumors after participating in clinical
trials—including one 50-year-old man who, after
receiving an experimental treatment for
Parkinson's disease, developed a brain tumor
with hairs and cartilage embedded within it.
The nasal tissue experiment took place at a
mainstream hospital in Portugal, and there are
thousands of legitimate stem cell trials taking place
all over the world, but so far only a few stem cell
therapies have been approved by the FDA. Stem
cells have the potential to treat everything from
baldness and diabetes to cardiovascular disease
and Parkinson's. But stem cells, some of which can
differentiate into almost any cell in the body, also
have the potential to cause harm.
That hasn't stopped private companies from
peddling unproven stem cell therapies that
haven't been properly tested for safety, may not
be effective, and can have dangerous
consequences. One woman in Los Angel es, for
example, spent $20,000 on a wacky cosmetic
procedure that took stem cells from her belly and
injected them into her face. She later grew an
extra bone that prevented her from opening her
eye and scratched up her eyeball. Scientists
surgically removed the extra bone in 2012.
Attempts to shut down the scientifically invalid
(and possibly fraudulent) companies have met
with resistance from patients.