In one study, patients with limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) who underwent stem cell therapy showed full corneal recovery in 50% of cases.
The journal Nature Communications reported on a study that showed full corneal recovery in 50% of patients with unilateral LSCD who received a 3-month “cultured autologous limbal epithelial cells (CALEC)” stem cell treatment.
The cornea, the transparent outer layer at the front of the eye, is crucial for clear vision because it accounts for 75% of the eye’s overall focusing power.
Eye pain, blurred vision, and even blindness can result from unilateral LSCD, a corneal disease caused by a lack of limbal stem cells that help the cornea regenerate when necessary.
Treatments for LSCD, which can be caused by chemical damage to the eye’s surface and corneal damage from wearing contact lenses, include limbal stem cell transplantation, corneal bandaging, and amniotic membrane patching.
Unfortunately, the current treatment for LSCD caused by corneal damage is ineffective and risks harming the healthy eye during the stem cell removal process. As a result, many corneal transplants are not carried out, and patients remain blind despite the excruciating pain.
In the meantime, a Mass General Brigham Healthcare System research team created the stem cell therapy known as CALEC.
During the first step of CALEC treatment, a tiny sample of limbal cells is taken from the patient’s healthy eye. These cells are then sent to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility, where they are cultured for two to three weeks before the cultured stem cell graft is transplanted into the patient’s damaged eye. The transplanted stem cells restore the corneal surface and replenish limbal stem cells.
According to the research team’s most recent clinical trial results, 50% of the 15 CALEC treatment participants demonstrated full corneal recovery after three months of treatment. Additionally, after 12 and 18 months, the treatment success rate rose to 79% and 77%, respectively.
The research team concluded that CALEC has long-term advantages because the effect becomes more noticeable over time and safely repairs corneal surface damage.
Furthermore, CALEC is safe because it doesn’t harm the eyes of either the donor or the recipient. In contrast, the current method of replenishing limbal epithelial cells raises safety concerns. After all, obtaining the cells might require cutting the donor’s healthy eye.
They claimed that although only one infection occurred during CALEC treatment, the CALEC transplant was not to blame.
According to the research team, the next step in this clinical trial is a randomized, controlled phase 3 clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of CALEC treatment with alternative treatments.
They are investigating whether the treatment will still work even if allogeneic stem cells—rather than autologous—are used for transplantation.
Damage to limbal stem cells can have irreversible effects because they are not produced further after birth. Previously, the only option to treat damaged limbal stem cells was transplanting cells from a cadaveric donor. However, because the cornea receives a lot of blood flow, this procedure required systemic immunosuppression for the patient, which had serious side effects.
As a result, specialists concluded that repairing damaged cells with the patient’s cells is up-and-coming.
