Knee pain: ‘Game-changing’ treatment cuts pain, improves movement and halts arthritis
Revolutionary stem cell therapy is changing the way leading Melbourne sport doctors work, regrowing cartilage and helping avoid painful joint replacement surgery.
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Stem cell treatments have cut the pain, improved movement and halted the spread of arthritis in damaged knees for patients in a Melbourne medical trial.
The latest results fuel hope of avoiding joint replacement surgery and have already changed practice the leading Melbourne’s leading sports clinic where the technique has been developed.
After publishing groundbreaking results of his treatment in 30 osteoarthritis sufferers, Associate Professor Julien Freitag, of Melbourne Stem Cell Centre, said that in some cases stem cells had even been able to regrow patients’ cartilage.
“For me, it is a real game-changer in how we use stem cell in osteoarthritis,” Assoc Prof Freitag said.
“To see the dramatic change in quality of life is a really rewarding outcome as a clinician.
“This is the first time we have got categorical, very strong, evidence that it is not just a promise, it is a reality.
“This becomes an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle in osteoarthritis. It is not the whole jigsaw puzzle, it is just one piece. But it is a very important piece because, in reality, it may prevent unnecessary joint-replacement surgery.”
About one in six Australians suffers from osteoarthritis, with treatments ranging from pain-relief drugs, prescribed exercise, knee surgery and joint replacement in severe cases.
During a year-long randomised controlled trial at Melbourne Stem Cell Centre, half the studied patients received traditional treatments while the others received either one or two injections of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells — cells taken from a patients’ own fat before being treated in a lab for up to eight weeks to be deemed viable for implantation.
Results published in the international journal Regenerative Medicine show those treated with the stem cells reported an average pain improvement of 69 per cent after one year while nine out of 10 saw their arthritis progression halted.
MRI scans showed evidence of cartilage regrowth in some cases, which Assoc Prof Freitag will discuss at this week’s annual meeting of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy in Melbourne.
“This basically showed the control group, which did not receive therapy, had a progression in their arthritis whereas the treatment group who had two injections of ADMSC had a lack of progression, so they stabilised their arthritis,” Assoc Prof Freitag said.
“We also had some experience of cartilage regrowth in some patients.”
Assoc Prof Freitag cautioned against “same-day procedures” increasingly being marketed as miracle stem cell therapies without evidence.
Assoc Professor Freitagts said the study results had been mirrored in the treatment of almost 200 private patients Melbourne Stem Cell Centre, including half of those with “bone-on-bone”, noting a 50 per cent improvement in pain.
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Zoe Fagan “freaked out” when told she had arthritis in her left knee at 41.
“I was not completely debilitated but, if I played sport, my knees would swell up and I needed a lot of time out. Taking off my shoes and socks was a challenge and I was in pain,” she said.
“I can now run without pain, I can jump, I can squat and kneel down — I basically have knees which are normal for somebody who is 45.”