A new treatment for meniscal tears based on stem cells has just been used for the first time on human subjects, with very encouraging results. The new method may help hundreds of thousands of sportsmen each year, easing their recovery and reducing the risk of developing other afflictions.

A Widespread Problem

Meniscal tears are some of the most common injuries that affect sportsmen, especially in contact sports like football or soccer. Although not very severe per se, these tears are quite problematic when it comes to treatment.

Most of the time, the damage appears in areas of the meniscus that have very few blood vessels and thus the tissue regenerates very slowly and many times imperfectly. As a result, many patients have the entire damaged area removed surgically.

The solution works initially, but the patients that choose this method are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.

A New Way To Heal

The Cell Bandage promises to be a much better solution for this common problem. Developed by the spin-off company Azellon and tested by scientists at the Bristol and Liverpool universities, the new solution facilitates recovery and reduces the risks associated with the old treatments.

This treatment involves taking stem cells from the patient's spine and growing them in the laboratory for 2 weeks.

After this process, the cells are placed on a membrane scaffold, which is inserted in the exact area of the tearing. It is very important for the implanted bandage to be fixed on the meniscus so that no movement occurs and the recovery can begin.

The Cell Bandage was trialed with the help of 5 human subjects, aged between 18 and 45, diagnosed with a meniscal tear. 12 months later, all of them no longer had the tears. Two years later, 3 of them still had no complaint, while the other 2 chose to have their meniscus removed due to a new tear or the return of the initial symptoms.

Overall, it seems the results are promising, so the team behind the new treatments wants to develop it even further, as stated by Anthony Hollander, professor at University of Liverpool and founder of Azellon.

"We are currently developing an enhanced version of the Cell Bandage using donor stem cells, which will reduce the cost of the procedure and remove the need for two operations," the man noted.

Each year, more than 1 million people in Europe and United States are affected by meniscal tears. Most of the professional athletes diagnosed with the injury prefer to have their meniscus removed completely, thus exposing themselves to further health risks.