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Dr. Eliseo Mora Sánchez
2023-04-14 |
Cell therapy is a clinical protocol involving the transplantation of living cells for the treatment of tissue injury or disease. It involves a number of different cell types, mainly derived from postnatal tissues, which may be either isolated and expanded in a defined culture format or presented as an unexpanded cell concentrate derived from a tissue biopsy.
In many broader applications, cells are delivered to the circulation by infusion. This includes the use of transplanted bone marrow or expanded hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for the treatment of blood disorders and malignancies, or T cells and natural killer cells genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor to target specific tumor cells.
CELL THERAPY IN ORTHOPAEDIC PRACTICE
The use of cell therapy in orthopaedic applications most commonly involves local delivery to the site of tissue damage, for example, to treat focal cartilage defects, degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis, or spine fusion or for fracture repair.
Cell therapy can be used in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. The selection of the expanded cell type generally depends on the specific application and includes:
- Chondrocytes for cartilage repair,
- Nucleus pulposus cells for disk repair,
- Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as a potential (but not yet fully proven) cell type for wider application in a number of different targets.
In many cases, the protocols involve autologous (patient-derived) cells but allogeneic use, where the cells are derived from a mismatched donor or pool of donors, is also common.
Source: Bruder, Scott, P. and Aaron Roy. Orthobiologics. Available from: Wolters Kluwer, Wolters Kluwer Health, 2023.
