Cellular Therapies in Orthopedics: Where Are We?

The orthopedic field has experienced several major practice-changing pivotal shifts in the past several decades, such as the invention and application of the arthroscope or the implementation and advancement of joint arthroplasties. Most of these previous breakthroughs have focused on surgical techniques and devices. However, the next major advance in the field is likely to be related to biologic treatments. Although still in its early stage of development, orthopedic regenerative medicine, including cellular therapies, represents a great opportunity, since we are only beginning to understand their biological potential. The main challenge in this pathway is to translate the promising results obtained by basic scientists to clinical practice. This work reviewed the market and clinical evidence, as well as future perspectives, concerning cellular therapies in orthopedics.