Professor Henrotin said: "The huge financial burden emphasizes the acute need for new and more effective treatments for articular cartilage defects, especially since there are few disease modifying drugs or treatments for OA."
Given the encouraging results of the trials cited in this review, Henrotin says MACI/ACI therapies could be used to delay or prevent the need for total joint replacement in OA patients. However, it remains to be seen whether these techniques are superior in terms of risk and cost-effectiveness when compared with current alternatives.
While the implantation procedure needs to be simplified, and specific clinical studies on elderly patients are needed, Henrotin is optimistic about improvements currently being researched, and considers that the use of MACI/ACI "constitutes a real opportunity for such patients in the next decade."
Source-Eurekalert
RAS