The survey on cellular and tissue-engineered therapies in Europe and neighboring Eurasian countries in 2014 and 2015.

BACKGROUND AIMS: With the support of five established scientific organizations, this report, the seventh of its kind, describes activity in Europe for the years 2014 and 2015 in the area of cellular and tissue-engineered therapies, excluding hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) treatments for the reconstitution of hematopoiesis. METHODS: In 2015 [respectively 2014], 205 [276] teams from 32 countries responded to the cellular and tissue-engineered therapy survey; 178 [126] teams reported treating 3686 [2665] patients. RESULTS: Indications were musculoskeletal/rheumatological disorders (32% [33%]), cardiovascular disorders (12% [21%]), hematology/oncology (predominantly prevention or treatment of graft versus host disease and HSC graft enhancement; 20% [20%]), neurological disorders (4% [6%]), gastrointestinal disorders (<1% [1%]) and other indications (31% [20%]). The majority of autologous cells (60% [73%]) were used to treat musculoskeletal/rheumatological (44% [36%]) disorders, whereas allogeneic cells were used mainly for hematology/oncology (61% [68%]). The reported cell types were mesenchymal stromal cells (40% [49%]), chondrocytes (13% [6%]), hematopoietic stem cells (12% [23%]), dermal fibroblasts (8% [3%]), dendritic cells (2% [2%]), keratinocytes (1% [2%]) and others (24% [15%]). Cells were expanded in vitro in 63% [40%] of the treatments, sorted in 16% [6%] of the cases and rarely transduced (<1%). Cells were delivered predominantly as suspension 43% [51%], intravenously or intra-arterially (30% [30%]), or using a membrane/scaffold (25% [19%]). DISCUSSION: The data are compared with those from previous years to identify trends in a still unpredictably evolving field. Perspectives of representatives from plastic surgery practitioners, Iran and ISCT are presented (contributing authors D.A. Barbara, B. Hossein and W.L. Mark, respectively).

The Survey on Cellular and Tissue-Engineered Therapies in Europe in 2016 and 2017.

This report describes activity in Europe for the years 2016 and 2017 in the area of cellular and tissue-engineered therapies, excluding hematopoietic stem cell treatments for the reconstitution of hematopoiesis. It is the eighth of its kind and is supported by five established scientific organizations. In 2016 and 2017, a combined 234 teams from 29 countries responded to the cellular and engineered tissue therapy survey; 227 teams reported treating 8236 patients in these 2 years. Indications were categorized in hematology/oncology (40%; predominantly prevention or treatment of graft vs. host disease and hematopoietic graft enhancement), musculoskeletal/rheumatological disorders (29%), cardiovascular disorders (6%), neurological disorders (4%), gastrointestinal disorders (<1%), as well as miscellaneous disorders (20%), which were not assigned to the previous indications. The predominantly used cells were autologous (61%). The majority of autologous cells were used to treat musculoskeletal/rheumatological (44%) disorders, whereas allogeneic cells were mainly used for hematology/oncology (78%). The reported cell types were mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) (56%), hematopoietic cells (21%), keratinocytes (7%), chondrocytes (6%) dermal fibroblasts (4%), dendritic cells (2%), and other cell types (4%). Cells were expanded in vitro in 62% of the treatments, sorted in 11% of the cases, and rarely transduced (2%). The processing of cells was outsourced to external facilities in 30% of the cases. Cells were delivered predominantly intravenously or intra-arterially [47%], as suspension [36%], or using a membrane/scaffold (16%). The data are compared with those from previous years to identify trends in a rapidly evolving field. In this edition, the report includes a critical discussion of data collected in the space of orthopedics and the use of MSCs.