Research

Global population aging is increasing, leading to a rise in cancer, chronic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune diseases. This development has caused cell therapy to become the new medical trend; the current market can be generally divided into two major directions: stem cell transplantation therapy and immune cell therapy. Stem cell transplantation focuses on cultivating new, vigorous young cells through stem cell vitro isolation, culturing, and directional inducement; these cells are then transplanted into the body to replace old cells. This therapy has brought revolutionary changes to the treatment of many major diseases.

The tremendous growth in the cell therapy industry means new trends in future medical care

The US and Europe have launched clinical trials to study the effect of stem cells on 140 diseases in the human body. Due to the huge demand in the market, the stem cell industry has risen from US$10 billion in 2016 to US$400 billion in 2020, with stem cell therapy accounting for over 50%. Stem cell therapy has made breakthroughs due to the joint efforts of medical and biotechnology experts. Research reports have also shown how many major diseases difficult to treat with traditional medicines can be treated with autologous stem cell therapy. Immunotherapy currently focuses on cancer treatments, providing new options outside of traditional chemotherapy and targeted drugs.

The advantage of stem cell therapy is that it does not have the side effects and rejections common in traditional drug treatment, and the materials needed are easily obtainable. These two features make stem cell therapy a new hope for regenerative medicine. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a wide range of functions and are thus commonly used in medicine; they can be isolated from deciduous teeth (baby teeth), gums, umbilical cords, placenta, bone marrow, etc. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and neonatal umbilical cord blood, can be used in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases due to their hematopoietic effect.

Stem cells have a wide range of applications to treat various major diseases

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the same regenerative abilities as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), without the ethical controversy of ESCs, meaning a wider application for IPS cells and new treatment methods for such diseases as diabetes and arthritis. Several journal reports have confirmed that stem cells can treat diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, muscle atrophy, emphysema, liver cirrhosis, respiratory system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, periodontal diseases, etc. In 2008, a study published in NATURE found that stem cells derived from bone marrow could be differentiated into vascular cell types to help restore blood flow in the heart, further demonstrating the use of stem cells for heart failure treatment in the future.

The regeneration function in stem cells has remarkable anti-aging and repair functions, making them a popular choice for aesthetic medicine. The stem cells used in aesthetic medicine are mesenchymal stem cells called adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs. They can be obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue through minimally invasive surgery. Due to their autocrine and paracrine functions, easy retrieval, and small trauma properties, ADSCs have become key stem cells for aesthetic medicine.

New hope for cancer treatment, combining gene and cell therapy

In immunotherapy, the cancer patient’s immune cells are collected and grown in the lab; when large numbers of these cells have been cultured, they are then transferred back into the patient’s body to fight the cancer cells. In 2018, the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare began allowing the public to receive immunotherapy under certain conditions. Compared with conventional cancer treatment, after several cell infusions in the cell therapy process, some immune cells “remember” and become more durable in anti-cancer treatments. Currently, in Taiwan, common immune cell therapy methods can be divided into (1) Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC), (2) Cytokine-induced Killer Cell (CIK), and Natural Killer Cell.

In addition to immunotherapy, in 2017 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the world’s first chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell therapy. CAR-T cell therapy, immunotherapy combining gene and cell therapy, is considered a new technology for regenerative medicine that will cure cancer in the future. In 2022, Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare approved cooperation between domestic biotechnology companies and medical institutions to develop new drugs for this therapy. The National University Hospital later successfully treated a girl with leukemia using said therapy to become the first case of CAR-T cell therapy in Taiwan. This approach will open a whole new era for future cancer therapy treatment in Taiwan.