Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Dec 18, 2017; 8(12): 853-860
Published online Dec 18, 2017. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v8.i12.853
Update on mesenchymal stem cell therapies for cartilage disorders
Nikolaos K Paschos, Mackenzie L Sennett
Nikolaos K Paschos, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Nikolaos K Paschos, Mackenzie L Sennett, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States
Author contributions: Paschos NK and Sennett ML developed the idea, searched the literature, and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest regarding this work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nikolaos K Paschos, MD, PhD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States. nikolaos.paschos@childrens.harvard.edu
Telephone: +1-215-8824440 Fax: +1-617-7300459
Received: June 14, 2017
Peer-review started: June 19, 2017
First decision: August 4, 2017
Revised: September 23, 2017
Accepted: October 17, 2017
Article in press: October 17, 2017
Published online: December 18, 2017
Abstract

Cartilage disorders, including focal cartilage lesions, are among the most common clinical problems in orthopedic practice. Left untreated, large focal lesions may result in progression to osteoarthritis, with tremendous impact on the quality of life of affected individuals. Current management strategies have shown only a modest degree of success, while several upcoming interventions signify better outcomes in the future. Among these, stem cell therapies have been suggested as a promising new era for cartilage disorders. Certain characteristics of the stem cells, such as their potential to differentiate but also to support healing made them a fruitful candidate for lesions in cartilage, a tissue with poor healing capacity. The aim of this editorial is to provide an update on the recent advancements in the field of stem cell therapy for the management of focal cartilage defects. Our goal is to present recent basic science advances and to present the potential of the use of stem cells in novel clinical interventions towards enhancement of the treatment armamentarium for cartilage lesions. Furthermore, we highlight some thoughts for the future of cartilage regeneration and repair and to explore future perspectives for the next steps in the field.

Keywords: Stem cell, Cartilage, Chondral defect, Management, Bone marrow, Mesenchymal stem cells, Adipose

Core tip: An increasing interest in stem cell application for cartilage defect repair is recently expressed, as a consequence of advancements demonstrating the critical function of mesenchymal stem cells as a potential alternative cell source for cartilage repair, as well as of recent clinical data exhibiting the effectiveness of these management strategies. Future research will determine the role of combining stem cells, primary chondrocytes, and signaling molecules towards cartilage regeneration.