Current status of stem cell therapy: opportunities and limitations

Authors

ELENA RUSU
LAURA GEORGIANA NECULA
ANA IULIA NEAGU
MIHAIL ALECU
CRISTIAN STAN
RADU ALBULESCU
CRISTIANA PISTOL TANASE

Abstract

Over recent years stem cells have stood out as a promising tool for regenerative medicine, providing alternative therapeutic solutions for a large number of diseases. Many clinical trials using stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells are focused on the repair and regeneration of various tissues and organs in degenerative diseases, whose current treatment only succeeds in slowing down the progression of the disease. Although the preliminary results are interesting, further studies are required in order to evaluate the safety and benefits of stem cell therapy, considering the teratoma development and ethical considerations in embryonic stem cell cases or reprogramming-induced somatic mutations and epigenetic defects. This review summarizes several current clinical and nonclinical data on the use of embryonic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells in various diseases.

DOI

10.3906/biy-1506-95

Keywords

Regenerative medicine, stem cells, cell reprogramming

First Page

955

Last Page

967

Recommended Citation

RUSU, ELENA; NECULA, LAURA GEORGIANA; NEAGU, ANA IULIA; ALECU, MIHAIL; STAN, CRISTIAN; ALBULESCU, RADU; and TANASE, CRISTIANA PISTOL (2016) "Current status of stem cell therapy: opportunities and limitations," Turkish Journal of Biology: Vol. 40: No. 5, Article 1. https://doi.org/10.3906/biy-1506-95
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/biology/vol40/iss5/1