Andrew plays table tennis with stem cells in his brain. The hope is that the stem cells, developed by a Danish pioneer, can successfully treat Parkinson's
59-year-old Andrew Cassy is one of the first in the world to receive stem cells, developed by a Danish researcher, injected into his brain. The hope is that it can successfully treat his disease
When we step into the hall to the sound of ping pong balls bouncing off the tables, we encounter two surprises.
The first surprise is that the hall is filled with retirees, playing ping pong with high spirits. One man, playing men’s doubles, sings ’four-four-four-four-zero’ with both arms raised after a successful forehand attack.
The second surprise is right in front of us. Two men, one smashing repeatedly while the other gracefully returns the ball over the net in a neat arc.
We are looking for two men with Parkinson’s disease, whom we have arranged to meet this Friday morning on the first floor of Grøndal MultiCenter in Copenhagen, home to Brønshøj Table Tennis. But we can’t find them.
It’s only when the two men in front of us take a break from playing that we spot them. Shortly after they stop, one of the men starts shaking his hands. It also becomes clear that the other has somewhat stiff hips and appears to be slightly tilting backward, known as ’reversible Pisa syndrome.’
They are British Andrew Cassy and Danish Morten Gunvad, who first met as participants at the world championship in table tennis for Parkinson’s patients in Berlin in 2021. They now face each other again, playing for fun within the PingPongParkinson community. Both men have been living with Parkinson’s disease for 15 and 13 years, respectively.
»It’s quite incredible. When we play table tennis and focus entirely on hitting the small ball, our symptoms almost disappear instantly. It’s one of nature’s wonders, and that’s why playing table tennis together is so fantastic,« says Andrew Cassy, sending a warm smile across the table to Morten Gunvad.
With stem cells in the brain
We are not here just to watch the two friends play table tennis. There is another reason Andrew Cassy is visiting Scandinavia with his wife. He is participating in a scientific trial, a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, the University of Cambridge, and Lund University. Seven months ago, at Skåne University Hospital, he received an injection of embryonic stem cells into his brain as one of the first in the world.
A scar on the top of his head attests to the procedure. Researchers and doctors expect he will begin to feel the effects of the treatment in six to twelve months, the time likely required for the stem cells to mature into nerve cells and establish connections with other neurons.
When we play table tennis and focus entirely on hitting the small ball, our symptoms almost disappear instantly
Andrew Cassy, England
The hope is that the implanted nerve cells will eventually start producing the substance that Parkinson’s patients lack: dopamine, which the body uses to make our movements smooth and coordinated.
»To be honest, I can’t feel the 14 million embryonic stem cells injected into each side of my brain. But I hope that as they mature and produce dopamine in the right place in my brain, they will alleviate my Parkinson’s symptoms, like my hands shaking violently right now because we’re not playing table tennis anymore,« says Andrew Cassy, as he heads to his sports bag to fetch his medication and swallows a pill with a sip of water.
The medication, called Levodopa, is the most effective for alleviating Parkinson’s symptoms. Levodopa is converted to dopamine in the brain, helping to replace some of the missing dopamine. The medication’s effect diminishes after a few years, and patients may need a brain implant similar to a pacemaker, as Morten Gunvad has.
Andrew Cassy's Danish table tennis partner, Morten Gunvad, in the midst of a match. He is envious that Andrew Cassy has received embryonic stem cells injected into his brain because he believes the stem cells can make a difference and potentially cure Parkinson's patients.
Morten Gunvad has had thin electrodes surgically implanted in his brain, connected to a battery under the skin of his abdomen. The current in the electrodes can normalize the imbalance in the brain’s motor system and reduce the disease’s symptoms. This technology, called ’deep brain stimulation,’ allows him to reduce his medication by about 50 percent.
Morten Gunvad is envious that Andrew Cassy received embryonic stem cell transplants in his brain.
»I’m really envious that Andrew, not me, got dopamine-producing stem cells injected into his brain. If offered, I would say yes immediately. Parkinson’s medication hasn’t improved in many years, and like the medication, ’deep brain stimulation’ only reduces symptoms without addressing the disease’s cause,« says Morten Gunvad and continues:
»With stem cell transplantation, I believe for the first time we are approaching a treatment that addresses the disease’s cause. I truly believe it can make a significant difference and possibly cure Parkinson’s patients.«
Visiting the laboratory
During his visit, Andrew Cassy had a check-up in Lund, where his brain was scanned to see the condition of the transplanted nerve cells and whether they have started producing dopamine.
The English patient also took the opportunity to visit Associate Professor and stem cell researcher Agnete Kirkeby and her team at the research tower at the University of Copenhagen in Inner Nørrebro. Agnete Kirkeby is responsible for producing and nurturing the stem cells injected into Andrew Cassy and seven other patients.
»I was overwhelmed by how emotional it was for my research group and me to meet Andrew and his wife in our laboratory. We usually don’t see the patients, and suddenly we’re visited by a patient with the embryonic stem cells we’ve worked with for over 15 years in his brain,« says Agnete Kirkeby.
Andrew Cassy has Parkinson's and plays table tennis with a friend through PingPongParkinson.
The experience was equally significant for Andrew Cassy and his wife, who got to see under a microscope how embryonic stem cells transformed into nerve cells and what they looked like just before transplantation into the brain.
»Andrew Cassy is very interested in Parkinson’s research and personally participates in the trial. We could hardly get him and his wife out of the laboratory because they found it so fascinating to hear my student explain how the stem cells work,« says Agnete Kirkeby.
Agnete Kirkeby cannot yet reveal how the stem cell transplantation in the brains of the eight patients from England and Sweden has gone. The first patient received treatment in February 2023, and the last was Andrew Cassy.
»Data comes in gradually, but we don’t yet have a complete dataset. We will release the data once Andrew Cassy and the other patients have had their second brain scan a year after the transplantation and we have compiled all our data,« says Agnete Kirkeby.
However, the associate professor refers to the results from two studies published in April, one Japanese and one American-Canadian, in one of the world’s leading journals, Nature, where stem cells were also transplanted into the brains of 7 and 12 Parkinson’s patients, respectively.
I truly believe it can make a significant difference and possibly cure Parkinson’s patients
Morten Gunvad
The phase I/II trials showed that the treatment was safe and had no side effects, the primary goal of the trials. But researchers also observed that it alleviated the symptoms of the disease. In the highest dose of stem cells, the American-Canadian trial showed that Parkinson’s symptoms were reduced by 50 percent after 18 months.
»It looks very promising, and the company BlueRock Therapeutics has received permission from the FDA to go directly to phase III, where patients will be randomly assigned to receive stem cell transplants or not. It is the only way to find out if stem cell treatment works,« says Agnete Kirkeby.
She is not disappointed that the other research groups are slightly ahead with their trials. She views them as collaborators rather than competitors.
»We meet once a year and share our data with each other before sharing it with anyone else. We learn from each other to avoid mistakes. If stem cell treatment is approved, the price can be kept down because there is more than one product on the market. This will benefit Parkinson’s patients,« says Agnete Kirkeby.
As a memento from our meeting in the ping pong hall, Andrew Cassy gives us an old one-penny coin, which he inherited from his father-in-law, who also had Parkinson's disease.
Dreams of returning to work
Back in the ping pong hall, Andrew Cassy hopes the stem cells in his brain will work and that the treatment can become available to many Parkinson’s patients.
»I hope stem cell treatment can turn back time to when I wasn’t aware I had Parkinson’s disease. If the treatment is as successful as the two other studies suggest, I might be able to live a more normal life and maybe work again as an engineer,« says Andrew Cassy.
As we say goodbye, Andrew Cassy pulls a bag of old one-penny coins from his bag. He wants to give the photographer and me a coin with the year matching our birth year. As a memento of our meeting in the ping pong hall.
»The coins belonged to my late father-in-law, who also had Parkinson’s disease. He lived with the disease for more than 20 years. I hope I can live even longer thanks to the stem cells and my table tennis,« says Andrew Cassy.
The two table tennis players with Parkinson’s then walk out of the hall and disappear down the corridor, each with their sports bag over their shoulder, chatting with each other. Like two good friends who have just enjoyed a good game of table tennis.
If you want to hear more about stem cell treatment, you can catch Associate Professor and stem cell researcher Agnete Kirkeby in conversation with former badminton star Poul-Erik Høyer, who has Parkinson’s disease, at Folkemødet on Bornholm. It takes place on Friday, June 13, at 3 p.m. at N8 Folkescenen.
Andrew Cassy (left) and Morten Gunvad prepare to leave the ping pong hall after a good match.
Documentation
‘Big leap’ for Parkinson’s treatment: symptoms improve in stem-cell trials