Abstract
Stem cell therapy is emerging as a promising treatment strategy to treat patients with stroke. While there are established modes of treatment for stroke patients such as thrombolysis and endovascular intervention, most of the stroke patients frequently end up with major residual deficits or even death. The use of stem cells to treat stroke has been found to be beneficial in the animal models but strict evidence for the same in humans is still lacking. We reviewed 13 clinical trials of stem cell therapy in stroke patients conducted between 2014 and 2020 based on the search using the database PubMed, and the clinical trial registry (www.clinicaltrials.gov). We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of stem cell treatment in stroke patients who participated in the trials. Quality assessment of the clinical trials revealed a sub-optimal score. We found mixed results regarding the efficacy of stem cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke although we could not do a quantitative analysis of the effect outcomes. Assessment for safety revealed promising results as there were only minor side effects related to cell therapy. Although stem cell therapy seems to be a promising strategy to treat stroke patients in the future, we concluded that the field needs more evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of the use of stem cells in stroke patients before we use them in the clinic.
Highlights
BackgroundStroke is the second largest cause of death globally (~5.5 million) and the second most common cause of global disability-adjusted life years (~116.4 million) [1,2]
Because of similar pathophysiology and treatment strategy including thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, we can use the cell-based therapy experience in MI as a guide to use in stroke management [7]
We manually searched for the clinical trials published from in between 2014 and 2020 using the PubMed database with the search strategy: “Stem cells or Stem cell therapy” and “Stroke or Middle cerebral artery or MCA or anterior cerebral artery or ACA or ischemic stroke” and “human” and “clinical trial”
Summary
BackgroundStroke is the second largest cause of death globally (~5.5 million) and the second most common cause of global disability-adjusted life years (~116.4 million) [1,2]. Regenerative therapy in the form of stem cells (neural stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and mesenchymal cells) is emerging as a promising treatment strategy to prevent stroke-related tissue damage, promote repair of damaged tissues and enhance functional recovery [5,6]. Because of similar pathophysiology and treatment strategy including thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, we can use the cell-based therapy experience in MI as a guide to use in stroke management [7]
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