The Last Laser Initiative
What if the next PWS laser treatment could be the last?
Bringing the laser and aesthetics industry together to help fund research towards a cure for Port-Wine Stain birthmarks and Sturge-Weber syndrome.
For decades, laser has been the main treatment for Port-Wine Stain birthmarks but it requires a lifetime of painful treatment and often results are minimal. But what if there was a better way — a way that could treat the PWS birthmark at its genetic cause? For the first time, researchers are investigating whether gene editing could do just that.
Who’s affected
Rare shouldn’t mean no one is fighting for a cure.
~3 in 1,000
Newborns born with a port-wine stain caused by a genetic mutation in vascular cells that causes a visible red mark on the skin that does not fade over time. However, for a small number of children, it is not just a birthmark, it is the first sign of something far more serious beneath the skin.
1 in 20,000–50,000
A port-wine stain may be uncommon, but for those whose birthmark is the first sign of Sturge-Weber syndrome, the challenges go far beyond the skin. The same underlying mutation can affect blood vessels in the brain and eyes, leading to seizures, neurological complications and a lifetime of far more serious medical challenges.
Sources: Sturge-Weber syndrome prevalence — StatPearls (NIH), NORD. Port-wine stain prevalence — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The Last Laser Initiative aims to bring an entire industry together, to help fund research into a genetic treatment to correct the underlying gene mutation making a difference to millions of lives across the globe.
The research
Today, there is a real path toward a cure.
We now know that PWS and Sturge-Weber syndrome are caused by somatic genetic mutations affecting the development of blood vessels. And research teams led by Dr Anne Comi and collaborators at the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute are already investigating whether gene editing could correct the mutation itself.
There is a known mutation and animal models that allow for the research to progress. There are also gene-editing approaches ready to test. What the research needs now is funding — and the industry whose devices already touch these lives every day is uniquely placed to help.
How the industry takes part
One clinic’s contribution may be small. Across an industry, it could fund an entire programme of research that could one day make a cure a reality.
The idea is simple. The Last Laser Initiative participating clinics, practitioners, manufacturers and distributors donate a small proportion of their laser-treatment revenue to support research into gene editing for PWS and SWS.
Today’s laser, helping to fund tomorrow’s cure.
For Alexander. For everyone living with a Port-Wine Stain or Sturge-Weber syndrome today. And for every child who comes after them.
Funding the research that could make the last laser possible.