Table 1.

Clinical studies assessing the capability of cell-based therapies to the repair cartilage defects: an assortment of illustrative studies

Cartilage lesion	Cell type1	Number of patients2	Most significant findings	Reference
Knee articular	ACI	431	Mild or no effects	15
Knee osteoarhritis	MSC	41	Significant improvement in knee evaluation tests and MRI scores	18
Knee articular	ACI or MSC	72	Both cell types produce no significant differences in knee evaluation tests (IKDC, Lysholm, Tegner). However, patients receiving MSC, but not ACI, improve evaluation tests and require less surgery	19
Knee osteoarthritis	MSC	18	No adverse events, improvement in knee evaluation tests, size of defect decreased, hyaline-like cartilage regeneration	20
Knee osteoarthritis	MSC	6	In 3/6 patients, cartilage thickness and knee evaluation tests improved (6 months); increase in extension of repair tissue; decrease in edematous subchondral patches	21

¹ACI: chondrocyte; MSC: mesenchymal stem cells,

²Include both treated and control patients.