Published online Jun 26, 2020. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i6.471
Peer-review started: May 1, 2020
First decision: May 15, 2020
Revised: May 17, 2020
Accepted: May 21, 2020
Article in press: May 21, 2020
Published online: June 26, 2020
Processing time: 54 Days and 13.5 Hours
Respiratory diseases, including coronavirus disease 2019 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are leading causes of global fatality. There are no effective and curative treatments, but supportive care only. Cell therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy for refractory and unmanageable pulmonary illnesses, as proved by accumulating preclinical studies. Stem cells consist of totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent, and unipotent cells with the potential to differentiate into cell types requested for repair. Mesenchymal stromal cells, endothelial progenitor cells, peripheral blood stem cells, and lung progenitor cells have been applied to clinical trials. To date, the safety and feasibility of stem cell and extracellular vesicles administration have been confirmed by numerous phase I/II trials in patients with COPD, acute respiratory distress syndrome, bronchial dysplasia, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary artery hypertension, and silicosis. Five routes and a series of doses have been tested for tolerance and advantages of different regimes. In this review, we systematically summarize the global trends for the cell therapy of common airway and lung diseases registered for clinical trials. The future directions for both new clinical trials and preclinical studies are discussed.
Core tip: Preclinical studies demonstrate significant improvement of lung disorders by stem cells and extracellular vesicles. Completed clinical trials show cell-based therapies are safe and tolerant for acute and chronic respiratory diseases. Current challenges for cell therapy of pulmonary illnesses are long-term safety, efficacy, and personal medicines.