Masters Program in Clinical Research, UC San Diego - School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA.
Department of Healthcare Research and Policy, UC San Diego - Extension, 8950 Villa La Jolla Drive Suite A124, San Diego, CA, 92037, USA.
Stem Cell Res Ther. 2021 Mar 18;12(1):189. doi: 10.1186/s13287-021-02254-4.
The potential of regenerative medicine to improve human health has led to the rapid expansion of stem cell clinics throughout the world with varying levels of regulation and oversight. This has led to a market ripe for stem cell tourism, with Tijuana, Mexico, as a major destination. In this study, we characterize the online marketing, intervention details, pricing of services, and assess potential safety risks through web surveillance of regenerative medicine clinics marketing services in Tijuana.
We conducted structured online search queries from March to April 2019 using 296 search terms in English and Spanish on two search engines (Google and Bing) to identify websites engaged in direct-to-consumer advertising of regenerative medicine services. We performed content analysis to characterize three categories of interest: online presence, tokens of scientific legitimacy, and intervention details.
Our structured online searches resulted in 110 unique websites located in Tijuana corresponding to 76 confirmed locations. These clinics' online presence consisted of direct-to-consumer advertising mainly through a dedicated website (94.5%) or Facebook page (65.5%). The vast majority of these websites (99.1%) did not mention any affiliation to an academic institutions or other overt tokens of scientific legitimacy. Most clinics claimed autologous tissue was the source of treatments (67.3%) and generally did not specify route of administration. Additionally, of the Tijuana clinics identified, 13 claimed licensing, though only 1 matched with available licensing information.
Regenerative medicine clinics in Tijuana have a significant online presence using direct-to-consumer advertising to attract stem-cell tourism clientele in a bustling border region between Mexico and the USA. This study adds to existing literature evidencing the unregulated nature of online stem cell offerings and provides further evidence of the need for regulatory harmonization, particularly to address stem cell services being offered online across borders.
再生医学具有改善人类健康的潜力，导致世界各地的干细胞诊所迅速扩张，其监管和监督水平各不相同。这导致了干细胞旅游市场的成熟，墨西哥蒂华纳是一个主要目的地。在这项研究中，我们通过对蒂华纳的再生医学诊所进行网络监测，对其在线营销、干预细节、服务定价进行了描述，并评估了潜在的安全风险。
我们于 2019 年 3 月至 4 月进行了结构在线搜索查询，使用了 296 个英文和西班牙文的搜索词，在两个搜索引擎（谷歌和必应）上进行了搜索，以确定从事再生医学服务直接面向消费者广告的网站。我们进行了内容分析，以描述三个感兴趣的类别：在线存在、科学合法性的标志和干预细节。
我们的结构在线搜索结果产生了 110 个位于蒂华纳的独特网站，对应 76 个确认地点。这些诊所的在线存在包括主要通过专门网站（94.5%）或 Facebook 页面（65.5%）进行的直接面向消费者的广告。绝大多数网站（99.1%）没有提到任何与学术机构或其他明显的科学合法性标志的隶属关系。大多数诊所声称治疗的来源是自体组织（67.3%），一般没有具体说明给药途径。此外，在所确定的蒂华纳诊所中，有 13 家声称获得了许可，尽管只有 1 家与现有的许可信息相匹配。
蒂华纳的再生医学诊所通过直接面向消费者的广告，在墨西哥和美国之间繁华的边境地区拥有显著的在线存在，以吸引干细胞旅游客户。这项研究增加了现有文献中关于在线干细胞产品不受监管性质的证据，并进一步证明了需要进行监管协调，特别是需要解决跨境提供的干细胞服务。
