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Scaffold-supported Transplantation of Islets in the Epididymal Fat Pad of Diabetic Mice
Published on: July 23, 2017
Islet transplantation: lessons learned since the Edmonton breakthrough
1Department of Transplantation and Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. roblanger@hotmail.com
This work sought to summarize the main issues of the last decade in the field of clinical islet transplantation. Ten years ago in Edmonton, a new protocol initiated for islet transplantation brought a breakthrough to the field. The earlier, rather poor results were in a sharp contrast to the first published results of 100% insulin freedom at 1 year. However, later it became clear that the promising initial results decline with time; at around 5 years, only about 10% of the patients maintain freedom from external insulin. Despite that fact, a milestone was set and intensive research started worldwide. New hopes were raised for patients. Modifications of the original protocol have been implemented to improve clinical results; however, islet transplantation remains an experimental procedure to date.
This work sought to summarize the main issues of the last decade in the field of clinical islet transplantation. Ten years ago in Edmonton, a new protocol initiated for islet transplantation brought a breakthrough to the field. The earlier, rather poor results were in a sharp contrast to the first published results of 100% insulin freedom at 1 year. However, later it became clear that the promising initial results decline with time; at around 5 years, only about 10% of the patients maintain freedom from external insulin. Despite that fact, a milestone was set and intensive research started worldwide. New hopes were raised for patients. Modifications of the original protocol have been implemented to improve clinical results; however, islet transplantation remains an experimental procedure to date.
