Chapters authored
Regenerative Medicine in Liver Cirrhosis: Promises and Pitfalls
Liver cirrhosis is irreversible and mostly ends up with complete loss of liver function/end‐stage liver failure, and the only proven treatment is liver transplantation. Scarcity of donor, high cost, lifelong immunosuppression, and surgical complications are the major issues associated with liver transplantation and these urge to look for alternate therapeutic approaches. Advancements in the field of regenerative medicine are arising hope for the treatment of liver cirrhosis. This chapter deals with the scope of liver regenerative medicine in the treatment of liver cirrhosis. Review of the literature showed that liver regenerative medicine no doubt holds great promises and added a lot of hope to the cure of liver diseases. Primarily, cell‐based therapies had shown great potential to treat liver cirrhosis. Successful clinical human trials further strengthen their significance in the field. However, recent trends in liver regenerative medicine are focusing on the development of tissue engineering leading to generation of the whole organ. Despite advantages, liver regenerative medicine has several limitations and sometimes been over‐optimistically interpreted. In conclusion, the current scenario advocates to conduct more preclinical and clinical trials to effectively replace liver transplantation with liver regenerative medicine to treat liver diseases.
Part of the book: Liver Cirrhosis