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Spring Survey 2012 Results

Emerging Science: How Stem Cells Might Regrow or Preserve Cartilage

PROGRAM DETAILS:

The treatment of cartilage injuries is one of the most difficult challenges for orthopedic surgeons. The injuries can lead to problems with impaired motion and pain as cartilage is damaged and cannot be replaced with effective tissue. Dr. Hubert Kim, Director of the UCSF Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center at UCSF Medical Center joins Andrew for this episode of Patient Power to discuss treating damaged cartilage by growing a patient's own cells in the lab and then using them to repair damaged tissue.

Dr. Kim begins by talking about the challenges of repairing damaged cartilage. Unlike bones and tendons, cartilage does not heal. Now, with experimentation with stem cells, researchers are excited they may be close to the ability to re-grow cartilage and, after injury, prevent cartilage cells from dying. He goes on to talk about the excitement in this field of research. To quote Dr. Kim, “I think it’s time for optimism, and I think that there are a lot of new technologies coming online and that stem cells certainly open up an approach that we just simply didn’t have. I think before we were somewhat limited by the types of cells we could use for cartilage repair, and the ability to manipulate these adult stem cells is very exciting. When combined with other technologies that are being developed it looks like we’re much closer to a good long-lasting solution than we were at any time previously.”

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EXPERTS & GUESTS:
Hubert Kim, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of the UCSF Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center, UCSF Medical Center
Dr. Hubert Kim is an orthopedic surgeon and director of the UCSF Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center in the UCSF Sports Medicine Center at UCSF Medical Center. Dr. Kim is a graduate of Stanford University and the Stanford University School of Medicine where he earned both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. He went on to complete a general surgery internship and... more >

TRANSCRIPT:

  1. Introduction
  2. Challenges in Repairing Damaged Cartilage
  3. Benefits of Limiting Cartilage Loss After Injury
  4. Research Goals and Clinical Trials
  5. Closing Comments

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