Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
The promise of stem cell (SC) therapies to restore functions of damaged tissues and organs brings enormous hope to patients, their families, loved ones, and caregivers. However, limits may exist for which indications SC therapies might be useful, efficacious, and safe. Applications of innovative therapies within regulatory boundaries and within the framework of controlled clinical trials are the norm in the scientific and medical community; such a system minimizes patient risk by setting a clear and acceptable safety and efficacy profile for new therapeutics before marketing authorization. This careful clinical validation approach often takes time, which patients suffering from terminal or debilitating diseases do not have. Not validated, unproven stem cell interventions (SCI) that promise a working treatment or cure for severe diseases have therefore found their way into the patient community, and providers of such treatments often take advantage of the public's willingness to pay large amounts of money for the misguided hope of a reliable recovery from their illnesses. We conducted a review of scientific publications, clinical case reports, and mass media publications to assess the reported cases and safety incidents associated with unproven SCI. The review also analyzes the main factors that were identified as contributing to the emergence and global rise of the "stem cell tourism" phenomenon. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2018;1-10.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6127222 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sctm.17-0282 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Factors that influence unproven stem cell intervention seeking behavior: A qualitative analysis of U.S. patients considering or having undertaken unproven stem cell interventions.
Soc Sci Med
January 2025
Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Maya Angelou Research Center for Healthy Communities, Wake Forest Un
Chronic disease patients seeking information about unproven stem cell interventions (SCIs) routinely encounter misinformation. Identifying differences among patients with little interest in unproven SCIs (low seekers) from those with high interest (high seekers) would help in developing patient communication interventions. This study characterizes patient knowledge, information sources, attitudes, and emotion of 36 patients and carers through in-depth interviews and reports three themes: knowledge; attitudes about safety, efficacy and expectations; and desperation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRelevant biomarkers in acute graft-versus-host disease secondary to transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells.
Hematol Oncol Stem Cell Ther
July 2025
Investigación en Salud U Sabana, Universidad de La Sabana, 140013 Chía Colombia.
Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a serious complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Specific biomolecules identified in samples from patients with aGVHD have been correlated with the diagnosis, prognosis, prediction, and treatment response of aGVHD. In this review, we summarize the most promising biomarkers with clinical relevance for aGVHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn analysis of stem cell training programs for physicians in the US-A mirage of credibility.
Stem Cell Reports
June 2025
Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Maya Angelou Center for Healthy C
Analyzing stem cell training businesses for United States (US) physicians shows the use of sensationalized marketing language emphasizing profits and growth with many of the instructors affiliated with clinics providing unproven therapies. We argue that many current pedagogical offerings for physicians interested in stem cell interventions are likely to offer questionable training and outline red flags for physicians interested in stem cell therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly Outcomes Following Total Hip Arthroplasty With a Newly Designed, Collared Triple-Tapered Cementless Femoral Stem.
J Arthroplasty
August 2025
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Background: Cementless femoral fixation in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is the most frequently utilized technique in the United States due to the efficacy of biologic fixation and reduced intraoperative times compared with cemented fixation, but has been associated with complications, including periprosthetic fracture and loosening. A recently introduced collared triple-tapered cementless stem has been engineered to address and mitigate these adverse events, but its safety remains unproven. The purpose of this study was to report early complications and causes of failure of this stem and to report patient satisfaction and function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhy the hypothesis of embryo selection in IVF/ICSI must finally be reconsidered.
Hum Reprod Open
March 2025
Center for Human Reproduction (CHR), New York, NY, USA.
Embryo selection (ES) during IVF is expected to select the 'best' embryo(s) from among a cycle's embryo cohort and has been a core concept of IVF for over 40 years. However, among 36 492 articles on ES in a recent PubMed search, we were unable to locate even a single one questioning the concept that, beyond standard oocyte and embryo morphology, ES has remained an unproven hypothesis. In unselected patient populations, attempts at ES have universally, indeed, failed to improve cumulative pregnancy and live birth rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF