Nawab Khalid, Bhere Deepak, Bommarito Anthony, Mufti Muhammad, Naeem Awais
Hospitalist, Geisinger Holy Spirit, Camp Hill, USA.
Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics and Imaging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA.
Cureus. 2019 Sep 20;11(9):e5712. doi: 10.7759/cureus.5712.
Stem cells carry the remarkable ability to differentiate into different cell types while retaining the capability to self-replicate and maintain the characteristics of their parent cells, referred to as potency. Stem cells have been studied extensively to better understand human development and organogenesis. Because of advances in stem cell-based therapies, regenerative medicine has seen significant growth. Ophthalmic conditions, some of which are leading causes of blindness worldwide, are being treated with stem cell therapies. Great results have also been obtained in the treatment of oral and maxillofacial defects. Stem-cell-based therapies have great potential in the treatment of chronic medical conditions like diabetes and cardiomyopathy. The unique property of stem cells to migrate towards cancer cells makes them excellent vectors for the transportation of bioactive agents or for targeting cancer cells, both primary and metastatic. While these therapeutic strategies are extremely promising, they are not without limitations. Failure to completely eradicate the tumor and tumor relapse are some of those concerns. Stem cells share some characteristics with cancer stem cells, raising concerns for increasing the risk of cancer occurrence. Ethical concerns due to the fetal origin of stem cells and cost are other major obstacles in the large-scale implementation of such therapies.
干细胞具有显著的能力，能够分化为不同的细胞类型，同时保留自我复制的能力，并保持其母细胞的特征，即所谓的潜能。人们对干细胞进行了广泛研究，以更好地了解人类发育和器官形成。由于基于干细胞的疗法取得进展，再生医学有了显著发展。眼科疾病（其中一些是全球失明的主要原因）正采用干细胞疗法进行治疗。在治疗口腔和颌面缺损方面也取得了很好的效果。基于干细胞的疗法在治疗糖尿病和心肌病等慢性疾病方面具有巨大潜力。干细胞向癌细胞迁移的独特特性使其成为运输生物活性剂或靶向原发性和转移性癌细胞的理想载体。虽然这些治疗策略极具前景，但并非没有局限性。无法完全根除肿瘤和肿瘤复发就是其中一些问题。干细胞与癌症干细胞有一些共同特征，这引发了人们对增加癌症发生风险的担忧。干细胞源于胎儿所引发的伦理问题以及成本，是大规模实施此类疗法的其他主要障碍。
