World-first Australian stem cell marvel that regrows damaged cartilage could make joint surgery unnecessary

EXCLUSIVE: STEM cells are being used to regrow damaged knee cartilage in world-first Melbourne trials it is hoped will make many joint surgeries unnecessary.

Stem cell - Dr Julien Freitag

EXCLUSIVE: STEM cells are being used to regrow damaged knee cartilage in world-first Melbourne trials it is hoped will make many joint replacements and other surgery unnecessary.

Doctors have halted damage caused by degenerative conditions, and even reversed it, in one of the first studies to use stem cells to rebuild cartilage in humans.

In initial results, half of those treated at Melbourne Stem Cell Centre saw a three-quarters reduction in pain and vastly improved knee function.

Two separate trials involving 70 patients have now shown stunning results.

Chief clinical investigator Dr Julien Freitag (inset) said the focus was on preventing, or at least delaying, the need for knee, hip and other joint replacements.

“The ability to see that the arthritis is not progressing is exciting — but to see reversal and regrowth in cartilage in some patients is incredibly exciting,” Dr Freitag said.

“There are many avenues, not just within musculoskeletal, where stem cell therapy may revolutionise medicine. This is not just promise — we are actually seeing the reality of stem cell therapy now, which is exciting.”

The studies, done in partnership with Magellan Stem Cells and overseen by Monash and La Trobe universities, are the first Australian trials in which patients’ own isolated and expanded mesenchymal stem cells have been injected into their own knee joints.

In one study, 30 osteoarthritis patients were given ­either stem cell treatment or a placebo, to see whether the cells halted damage or even rebuilt the knee.

Patient in the trial, Ollie Thursfield's damaged knee after stem cells.

A second study, on 40 patients with isolated cartilage lesions, tried to determine whether cells could stop normal joint deterioration and a progression to arthritis.

The full results of the trials are yet to be published.

However, interim results out today show two-thirds of patients have experienced at least a halving of knee pain and movement restriction — improvements that were maintained beyond a year.

But the regrowth of cartilage in some patients was what astounded Dr Freitag — especially when an MRI image showed new cartilage filling a decade-long gap in 26-year-old Ollie Thursfield’s knee.

“When you can visually see a structural change it is incredibly exciting, and that is the case for Ollie — which was a watershed moment,” Dr Freitag said.

“It was one of those moments where all of the time and effort that has gone into this process has enormous reward, with one image.”

Initial results have mirrored the success of previous international trials, showing a much greater reduction in pain and an improvement in movement for those receiving the stem-cell treatment — to the extent that those in the placebo groups are now being offered the treatment.

But Dr Freitag said Melbourne Stem Cell Centre’s data had shown the greatest improvements in patients with the most severe joint damage, where all cartilage was gone and there was bare bone.

This allowed a refinement of the technique.

“We are thrilled to be running some of the best research internationally, and achieving some world-first results,” Dr Freitag said.

“We have also seen improvement in structure.

“Some patients have regrown a component of cartilage volume. In a progressive condition, to see a reversal is very exciting.

“We are also broadly seeing a minimal or lack of progression of their osteoarthritis.”

[e-mail]

Keen surfer Ollie had a congenital knee condition but has had huge success in a Victorian-first medical trial using stem cells to regrow cartilage. Picture: Alex Coppel

OLLIE SURFING THE WAVE OF REVOLUTINARY SCIENTIFIC TREATMENT

AFTER six knee operations, Ollie Thursfield had to give up his beloved surfing. He could barely walk down the street.

One knee had deteriorated since he was 13 years old, thanks to a congenital deformity called osteochondritis dissecans.

Now, at 26, no cartilage remained and he was facing the prospect of having to have a knee replacement.

So desperate was this laid-back Anglesea health worker that he even contemplated handing over $7000 for an unproven stem cell treatment, with no scientific backing, at a cosmetic medicine clinic.

Instead, Melbourne Stem Cell Centre offered him the chance to join the world’s first controlled research trials in humans to assess the impact of stem cells in the management of osteoarthritis.

Six months later, MRI images showed cartilage regrowth, reversing some of the damage that hobbled him.

He is hoping for even greater improvements, and a return to the surf.

“It’s groundbreaking, what is going on inside my knee. And that’s pretty cool,” Mr Thursfield said.

“It is starting to work its magic and I am slowly getting there, going to the physio and activating all the muscles which have been asleep for a couple of years.

“It’s amazing, considering I had reached the end of the road with conventional surgery.

“Two years ago, I had to stop surfing; then last summer, I couldn’t even really go fishing and stand up for more than half an hour.

“Before the stem cells, I was facing a knee replacement in my mid-30s because it was just getting worse and worse.

“Maybe it is not going to be a full cure for everyone.

“But if I think of the quality of life I have gained in the last six to eight months — if everyone can have that, it would be pretty cool.”