Premium
Stem cell therapies for Type 1 diabetes: current status and proposed road map to guide successful clinical trials
Author(s) -
Senior P. A.,
Pettus J. H.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/dme.13846
Subject(s) - medicine , clinical trial , intensive care medicine , type 2 diabetes , stem cell , diabetes mellitus , transplantation , type 1 diabetes , risk analysis (engineering) , surgery , endocrinology , biology , genetics
Many people with Type 1 diabetes struggle with the burden of self‐management and are unable to achieve optimal glycaemic control without risk of hypoglycaemia. Future therapies with the potential to reduce the risk for short‐ and long‐term complications while simultaneously reducing the burden of diabetes are therefore attractive. β‐cell replacement is one strategy which might achieve this. Islet transplantation is limited by organ supply and the risks of long‐term immunosuppression. Encapsulated stem‐cell‐derived β cells have the potential to address both of these issues and phase I/ II clinical trials of encapsulated pancreatic progenitors have begun. A significant risk associated with the translation of stem‐cell science to the clinical management of Type 1 diabetes is an underestimation of the complexity of the process and a mismatch between the hype and the expectations of both people with Type 1 diabetes and the public. We provide an update on progress in clinical trials of encapsulated stem‐cell‐derived β cells and propose a road map for the design and conduct of future trials to facilitate the translation of this exciting science to clinical care.