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Wests Tigers forward Todd Payten's playing future will be decided by an experimental stem-cell therapy trialled on just a handful of humans - but about 200 dogs - in Australia.
Payten has been made part of a pilot program, in effect made a guinea pig, for a procedure called fat-derived stem-cell therapy. Last Friday, Payten underwent a minor liposuction, before stem cells harvested from the fat were injected into his problematic knee and ankle. Payten is believed to be the first professional athlete in Australia to undergo the radical therapy, and certainly the first NRL player. He also told the _Herald_ yesterday he was hoping to avoid the prospect of suffering chronic arthritis later in life.
It was suggested the therapy had about a 70 per cent success rate in dogs, including greyhounds. Payten was hoping for a significant improvement in his joints otherwise he would be forced into retirement at the end of the season.
''I was a little bit [reluctant] at first,'' the 32-year-old said. ''The club doctor [Donald Kuah] alerted me to this study some months ago, at the start of the season, and I wasn't overly keen. But I've missed so much footy, I changed my mind.''
Payten has had ankle problems since stepping on a tennis ball before last year's preliminary final against St George Illawarra, ruling him out of the match and setting back his pre-season. He subsequently had knee troubles this year, forcing him to consider ending his career a year before his contract with the club expires.
''Really, this decision wasn't made about football,'' Payten said. ''It was about quality of life. You see ex-footballers with knee problems, struggling to walk. I'm heading in that direction, but this might ease that. I might be able to enjoy a game of touch football, or a game of tennis, or just chasing my little blokes [boys Noah and Leo] around. Fingers crossed it works.''
But asked whether it could extend his career beyond this year, given his recent doubts over whether he can push into 2012, he said: ''At the moment I'm retiring unless this works dramatically. That's where I stand at the moment.
''I've spoken to the coach [Tim Sheens] about it. I want to improve a fair bit. I'm just not contributing the way I want to. I've been a passenger in some games.''
Payten had about 200 millilitres of fat taken from his ''love handles'' under anaesthetic in the first part of the therapy. Kuah then injected a total of about 50mls of the harvested stem cells into his ankle and knee. The forward will not know how successful the therapy was until he starts running again, in about three weeks, but can be somewhat comforted by the success rate in dogs. The study has included only about 10 humans so far in Australia.
Kuah stressed that the therapy was still experimental. He is one of the founding practitioners at the Sydney Sports Medicine Centre, which was approached about taking part in the study. He said he hoped the therapy would regenerate the cartilage in Payten's knee and ankle.
Sheens said he was happy to let Payten gamble on the procedure, the cost of which was vastly reduced due to it being part of a medical trial.
''He was being inconvenienced to the point of not being able to contribute to the team, not training,'' Sheens said. ''It's experimental, but they have some views that it will help him. We're just hoping it takes.''
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/payten-turns-to-experimental-stemcell-therapy-used-on-dogs-20110519-1euzt.html)
Payten has been made part of a pilot program, in effect made a guinea pig, for a procedure called fat-derived stem-cell therapy. Last Friday, Payten underwent a minor liposuction, before stem cells harvested from the fat were injected into his problematic knee and ankle. Payten is believed to be the first professional athlete in Australia to undergo the radical therapy, and certainly the first NRL player. He also told the _Herald_ yesterday he was hoping to avoid the prospect of suffering chronic arthritis later in life.
It was suggested the therapy had about a 70 per cent success rate in dogs, including greyhounds. Payten was hoping for a significant improvement in his joints otherwise he would be forced into retirement at the end of the season.
''I was a little bit [reluctant] at first,'' the 32-year-old said. ''The club doctor [Donald Kuah] alerted me to this study some months ago, at the start of the season, and I wasn't overly keen. But I've missed so much footy, I changed my mind.''
Payten has had ankle problems since stepping on a tennis ball before last year's preliminary final against St George Illawarra, ruling him out of the match and setting back his pre-season. He subsequently had knee troubles this year, forcing him to consider ending his career a year before his contract with the club expires.
''Really, this decision wasn't made about football,'' Payten said. ''It was about quality of life. You see ex-footballers with knee problems, struggling to walk. I'm heading in that direction, but this might ease that. I might be able to enjoy a game of touch football, or a game of tennis, or just chasing my little blokes [boys Noah and Leo] around. Fingers crossed it works.''
But asked whether it could extend his career beyond this year, given his recent doubts over whether he can push into 2012, he said: ''At the moment I'm retiring unless this works dramatically. That's where I stand at the moment.
''I've spoken to the coach [Tim Sheens] about it. I want to improve a fair bit. I'm just not contributing the way I want to. I've been a passenger in some games.''
Payten had about 200 millilitres of fat taken from his ''love handles'' under anaesthetic in the first part of the therapy. Kuah then injected a total of about 50mls of the harvested stem cells into his ankle and knee. The forward will not know how successful the therapy was until he starts running again, in about three weeks, but can be somewhat comforted by the success rate in dogs. The study has included only about 10 humans so far in Australia.
Kuah stressed that the therapy was still experimental. He is one of the founding practitioners at the Sydney Sports Medicine Centre, which was approached about taking part in the study. He said he hoped the therapy would regenerate the cartilage in Payten's knee and ankle.
Sheens said he was happy to let Payten gamble on the procedure, the cost of which was vastly reduced due to it being part of a medical trial.
''He was being inconvenienced to the point of not being able to contribute to the team, not training,'' Sheens said. ''It's experimental, but they have some views that it will help him. We're just hoping it takes.''
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/payten-turns-to-experimental-stemcell-therapy-used-on-dogs-20110519-1euzt.html)
