A 61-year-old man has become the first person in the UK to be cured of type 1 diabetes, thanks to a ground-breaking cell-transplant procedure. Richard Lane of Bromley in Kent, who has been dependent on multiple daily injections of insulin and has suffered frequent hypoglycaemic attacks for 30 years, received three islet-cell transplants from donors who had died. These were injected into his liver, and he now no longer needs insulin injections. He told The Guardian newspaper: “I haven't felt better in myself for 30 years. I have to pinch myself to ensure I am not dreaming”.

Surgeon James Shapiro, in Edmonton, Canada, pioneered the technique and was the first to achieve insulin independence, in 2001. Previously, two other patients in the UK have undergone the procedure, but both still require small doses of insulin. In light of the recent success, Annwen Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, said that “Great improvements have been made since the first procedure of this type in 2001 and we are delighted that we now have the expertise to achieve insulin independence in the UK.” (BBC News).

However, there remain several drawbacks. First, patients who receive islet-cell transplants spend the rest of their lives on immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection, and second, there is a severe shortage of donor pancreases from which to extract islet cells. Acknowledging these shortcomings, Professor Stephanie Amiel, a consultant on diabetes at King's College London said that “more research needs to be done to perfect the islet isolation procedures and the drugs we use to prevent rejection of the islets and recurrence of the diabetes” (The Guardian).