Bone regeneration: stem cell therapies and clinical studies in orthopaedics and traumatology.

Regenerative medicine seeks to repair or replace damaged tissues or organs, with the goal to fully restore structure and function without the formation of scar tissue. Cell based therapies are promising new therapeutic approaches in regenerative medicine. By using mesenchymal stem cells, good results have been reported for bone engineering in a number of clinical studies, most of them investigator initiated trials with limited scope with respect to controls and outcome. With the implementation of a new regulatory framework for advanced therapeutic medicinal products, the stage is set to improve both the characterization of the cells and combination products, and pave the way for improved controlled and well-designed clinical trials. Gómez-Barrena E, Rosset P, Müller I, Giordano R, Bunu C, Layrolle P, Konttinen YT, Luyten FP. J Cell Mol Med. 2011 Jun;15(6):1266-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2011.01265.x. Review. PMID: 21251219