Stem cell in urology—are we at the cusp of a new era?

Abstract

Stem cell therapy can potentially disrupt conventional medicine as we practice it today. Stem cells can self-renew and differentiate and by this, repair and in certain conditions regenerate damaged tissue. In the past two decades, there has been significant research into its value in several chronic urological conditions for which conventional therapy is unsatisfactory. Stem cell therapy has been tried on animal models of bladder dysfunction, stress urinary incontinence (SUI), erectile dysfunction and urethral injury and certain preclinical studies have had very encouraging results. Yet despite this explosion of knowledge about the nature and value of stem cells, translation of research into the clinical domain has been slow. In addition, lack of regulation of stem cell therapy has resulted in indiscriminate, unscientific administration of stem cell therapy to patients. This review looks into the advances in the use of stem cells in urological practice, the recent regulatory guidelines that have been introduced and what the future holds for this exciting branch.

Double face of stem cells in paediatrics: therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stem cells and threats from cancer stem cells

“…There is also a tremendous need for kidney, bladder and urethra regeneration therapies in children with congenital anomalies. Although there are positive experimental data from animal models, and some promising results of early clinical trials of bladder regeneration using a combination of stem cells and biomaterials in children with neurogenic bladder, which is a neurologic defect associated with spina bifida, so far there are no effective stem cell therapies in paediatric urology (10,44,45) .…”

Comparative study of different transplantation methods of adipose tissue‐derived stem cells in the treatment of erectile dysfunction caused by cavernous nerve injury

“…Many preclinical studies have shown that various stem cell therapies for the treatment of CNIED are effective and safe, and stem cell therapy for this purpose has gradually entered the stage of clinical research (Alwaal et al., 2015; Lokeshwar et al., 2020). We and others have found that although stem cell therapy for CNIED has a certain effect, the current therapeutic effect is still weaker than expected, so how to further improve the efficacy of stem cell therapy for CNIED is an important research topic (Caplan & Correa, 2011; Liu et al., 2013; Ouyang et al., 2014; Panda, 2018).…”

Stem Cell Therapy for Neurogenic Bladder After Spinal Cord Injury: Clinically Possible?

“…In the history of regenerative medicine in urology, Atala et al [3,4] showed promising results by implanting a tissue-engineered bladder and ure-thra using autologous cells and scaffolds in humans for the first time. Since then, extensive research has investigated the possibility of using stem cells for therapeutic purposes in various difficult-to-treat urologic diseases such as incontinence, neurogenic bladder (NB), erectile dysfunction, and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome [5].…”