Search
Close
Search
Advanced Search
Search Menu
AI Discovery Assistant

Extract

It seems like a remake of a bad movie, one that we’ve seen many times before with variations in plot and characters. Patients seriously harmed by what are promoted as “breakthrough” medical treatments. Unlicensed practitioners, substandard facilities, false claims of procedure benefits, inadequate information about reported risks, and a long list of “unknowns.” These are the common story elements, but perhaps no previous situation has held as great a potential for harm on a large scale as does the current drama surrounding stem-cell therapies. It is a drama that touches at the very heart of our human desire for immortality—or, at least, many people’s desperate need for hope at any cost.

Stem-cell technology is an exciting area of research and one that may well hold promise beyond anything we have imagined so far. Bone marrow stem-cell therapies for cancer and blood disorders already are widely accepted medical procedures. Clinical trial evidence suggests that stem cells might speed wound healing, improve heart function, and treat scleroderma. Most applications, however, are still in the early stages of being assessed for benefits, limitations, and safety.1 Yet judging from the plethora of stem-cell clinics offering cures for everything from sagging skin to debilitating illnesses and injuries, one would think that the definitive underlying science is “in.” Stem-cell therapies are the miracle we’ve all been dreaming of, the cure for what ails us now, and the preventative for what might ail us in the future—or so it would seem.

Issue Section:
Editorial
You do not currently have access to this article.
Download all slides