April 30, 2024

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Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 



From treating diseases to preventing hair loss and anti-aging: Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

Stem cell therapy or regenerative medicine has brought life-saving treatment effects to patients with certain types of cancer and blood-related diseases (such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma) . However, most stem cell products are still in the early stage of research, and their safety and effectiveness still need to be tested in carefully designed and rigorous clinical trials.

Although there are many research and clinical trials in the field of stem cells, few stem cell therapies or products have been approved for marketing. But in fact, we often see some companies or medical institutions providing stem cell therapy, claiming that it can treat various diseases, and even claiming to rejuvenate people, how old they are. To what extent is the chaos in the field of stem cell therapy?

On November 4, 2021, Professor Leigh Turner of the University of California, Irvine, published an article titled: The American stem cell sell in 2021: US businesses selling unlicensed and unproven stem cell interventions in the Cell Stem Cell journal .

Professor Leigh Turner used Google search and Google Maps and other tools and found that there are currently 1,480 companies and 2,754 medical institutions in the United States that claim to sell stem cell therapies , while a study conducted 5 years ago showed that there are only 351 companies and 570 medical institutions that sell stem cell therapies . Stem cell therapy, the number of institutions in this field has increased fourfold in just five years.

These stem cell therapies are claimed to be able to treat pain , orthopedic diseases , sports injuries , diabetes, etc., to beauty , prevent hair loss and anti-aging , and even claim to strengthen the immune system to prevent the new coronavirus. But in fact, these stem cell therapies on sale have not been approved by the FDA and often lack convincing evidence of safety and effectiveness.

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

The United States now has more stem cell therapies on sale than any other country, and even more than those major destination countries for “stem cell tourism”, such as Ukraine. As early as 1997, some companies in the United States began to sell unproven and licensed stem cell products. With more and more companies pouring in, the field of stem cell therapy has changed from a trickle at the beginning to a torrent of current.

The survey shows that these unproven and licensed stem cell therapies are expensive, and only 3.78% of companies clearly marked the price of stem cell products. These marked prices show that patients need to pay from US$1,200 to US$28,000. Some patients also claim that they have suffered huge economic losses after being misled to purchase stem cell therapy. A few years ago, news broke that some institutions organized Chinese people to go to Ukraine for so-called ” embryonic stem cell ” injections, which cost nearly 600,000 yuan per injection, claiming to make people 5-10 years younger.


Stem cell type

Autologous stem cell products are the most frequently promoted type of stem cell by these stem cell therapy companies. 671 (45.33%) companies sell autologous bone marrow stem cell products, 437 (29.52%) companies sell autologous adipose-derived stem cell products, and 42 (2.83%) sell peripheral blood. Sources of autologous stem cell products, 7 (0.47%) companies sell a combination of autologous stem cell products from fat and bone marrow.

Allogeneic stem cell products have also been widely promoted in the United States. 350 (23.64%) companies sell cord blood or tissue stem cell products, 260 (17.56%) companies sell amniotic membrane stem cell products, and 47 (3.17%) companies sell placental stem cells. product. Another 25 (1.68%) companies sell allogeneic stem cell products of unspecified origin.

Among the 1,480 stem cell therapy companies, 595 (40.2%) advertised for mesenchymal stem cell therapy . This may be due to the promotion of more research papers related to mesenchymal stem cells in recent years.

It is worth mentioning that since 2016, a new type of stem cell-related product, stem cell-derived exosomes , has received more attention. Currently, 99 companies (6.68%) promote the treatment of stem cell-derived exosomes. This also shows that the entire field is closely following the trend of scientific research, which also indicates that new types of stem cell sales products will appear in the future.

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 


Type of disease treated

The most common claim of these companies is that stem cell therapy can reduce pain. Among the 1,480 companies, 1,262 (85.27%) claimed to be able to treat pain symptoms. The second is orthopedic diseases, with 689 (46.55%) companies claiming that they can treat orthopedic diseases , and 339 (22.90%) selling stem cell products for the treatment of sports-related injuries .

There are 134 (9.05%) companies claim to treat neurological diseases , 122 (8.24%) treat immune system diseases , 95 (6.41%) treat lung and respiratory diseases , 94 (6.35%) treat erectile dysfunction and For other sex-related diseases , 88 (5.94%) treated skin conditions and wounds, and 86 (5.81%) treated cardiovascular diseases. 54 (3.64%) treated diabetes, 39 (2.63%) treated urinary system diseases, 36 (2.43%) treated spinal cord injury or paralysis, and 29 (1.95%) treated vision loss or damage. Twenty-three (1.55%) treat minor neurological diseases such as autism and cerebral palsy, and 37 (2.5%) treat Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly.

In addition, some companies promote the use of stem cell products for beauty and anti-aging. 123 (8.31%) claim to use stem cells for beauty , 109 (7.36%) treat hair loss , and 89 (6.01%) use it for anti-aging

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

Professor Leigh Turner said that the most disturbing aspect of the stem cell therapy market now is to use the hope, pain, fear or despair of patients to adopt false statements and aggressive strategies to sell stem cells with unproven efficacy and unapproved by the FDA. product.

He also said that the stem cell therapy industry has developed to a point where regulators cannot adequately supervise the market. This kind of chaos in the industry undermines public health, hinders scientific progress, and affects the people’s trust in public institutions. Therefore, it is time for relevant regulatory agencies to strengthen supervision, otherwise this disorderly development trend will intensify.

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

Stem cell therapy is still in the early stage of research. Therefore, in addition to using stem cells for cancer and specific immune disease patients, people should be cautiously optimistic about the prospects for stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine products to treat various other diseases and injuries.

Original link:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2021.10.008

Some unapproved stem cell therapy just make patients to loss money 

(sourceinternet, reference only)


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