"Rafael Nadal to receive stem cell treatment". "Adam Goodes undergoes revolutionary stem cell treatment". Headlines in the media like these highlight how regenerative therapies such as stem cells are increasingly used within the arena of sports medicine to improve healing and prolong a sportspersons career. These headlines however indicate that stem cell therapies are restricted to use in the elite athlete – nothing can be further from the truth.
Rather than studies assessing the use of stem cells in sporting injuries, the research which has successfully proven the regenerative capabilities of stem cells has been on patients just like you and I. Patients who enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle or importantly want to improve their activity levels rather than elite athletes whose achievements and abilities we can only dream of.
Arthritis – the 4th most disabling condition worldwide – is a condition of the general community and afflicts close to 4 million Australians. It is a condition that equally effects both the athlete and the keen gardener or walker. Importantly it is in the treatment of osteoarthritis that most recent research has successfully shown the benefits of stem cell therapy.
Despite enormous medical gains in recent years, our ability to successfully treat osteoarthritis – seen as a progressive and degenerative condition – has been limited. This was until last year when orthopaedic specialist Dr Khay-Yong Saw, in a strictly controlled trial, successfully used a combination of arthroscopy and pure stem cell injections to regrow normal like cartilage in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis.
Building upon these results, researchers at the Seoul National University College of Medicine used high dose pure stem cell injections to successfully stimulate cartilage repair and growth in patients with generalized osteoarthritis including areas of full thickness cartilage loss.
Applying these successful treatment protocols we are able to bring the benefits of regenerative stem cell therapies to the broader community rather than just to the elite few who occupy the centre stage of sport.
Melbourne scientists are running two of the world's largest randomised controlled trials to assess the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy in the management of osteoarthritis and isolated cartilage lesions.
The trials, overseen by the human research ethics committees at Monash University and LaTrobe University, are actively enrolling potential participants. So far, a small number of suitable candidates have started treatments.
Principal study clinician and sports physician Dr Julien Freitag, says early indications are positive.
Dr Freitag said it would be some time before preliminary data were available.
"Early improvement in pain and function is very encouraging but what we want is radiologically conclusive evidence of real regrowth of cartilage volume and/or delay in arthritis progression and this will take time to formally assess," he said.
General Practitioners and Specialists across Australia are being asked to refer potential patients for assessment as to their suitability for the trials.