What is Cell Treatment?
Cell treatment is the use of stem cells and other types of cells to treat diseases. It
involves growing specialized cells in the lab and then transplanting them into
patients for treatment bloomingtonlivestock. The goal is to regenerate damaged or diseased tissues.
Stem cells are found throughout the body, in specific pockets of tissue, including the
bone marrow and blood. These cells can turn into many different cell types as the
body needs them to repair or restore damaged tissues and organs.
These regenerative cells can also be harvested from the body’s own fat or bone
marrow, and then injected into certain areas to repair or replace damaged tissue.
This form of regenerative therapy has been effective in treating joint pain and other
musculoskeletal conditions.
Another form of stem cell treatment is a procedure called hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation (HSCT). It uses blood-forming stem cells to replace the diseased
stem cells that have been destroyed during chemotherapy or other treatments for
cancer or other blood disorders. These stem cells are collected from the patient’s
own bone marrow or from a donor.
This type of cellular treatment is becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of
blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. In addition to replacing the stem
cells that have been destroyed by chemotherapy, HSCT can help prevent the cancer
from spreading or returning.
In the case of leukemia, HSCT can help the patient stay in complete remission —
meaning there is no evidence that the cancer is still present in the patient’s body. In
addition, it can help reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy by reducing the number of
cancer-causing chemicals that are absorbed from the bloodstream.
Researchers are working to expand the supply of cellular therapies, which can be
difficult because there are not enough cells available to support large numbers of
patients. They also want to find ways to make the injected cells less susceptible to
immune rejection, in which the patient’s body sees the new cells as foreign and
attacks them.
One of the most promising approaches to expanding cell therapies is through the
development of a process called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy,
which allows doctors to genetically modify a patient’s own white blood cells so that
they will be more resistant to cancer cells. This method is now being tested for the
treatment of certain blood cancers, and may be helpful for other diseases.
HSCI scientists are also developing ways to co-opt cancer cells’ self-homing ability so
they can deliver tumor-killing drugs directly into the patient’s body. This approach
could help improve the efficacy of regenerative therapies for a wide range of
medical conditions, from kidney and heart failure to autoimmune disease and
diabetes.
Some forms of regenerative medicine require that patients take drugs to avoid
infection during the procedure. Those medications, such as non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs, should be stopped at least two weeks before the regenerative
medicine treatment.
Regenerative medicine is a promising approach to treating a wide variety of medical
conditions, but it is not yet widely used. Until more scientific and clinical trials are
conducted to determine the efficacy of these procedures, they remain a fringe
treatment option for some patients.