[Cellular therapy and leg ulcers: Future approaches]

The prevalence of leg ulcers, which are most commonly caused by venous insufficiency, is high in Europe. Current treatments are fairly unsatisfactory, with long healing times in many cases, as well as a high risk of relapse. Over the last 15 years, improved understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms at work in delayed wound healing has contributed to the development of cellular therapy in this field. The use of keratinocytes or cultured fibroblasts, whether autogenic or allogenic, has been of little value in terms of either healing times or rates of complete healing. For the moment, there are very few allogenic skin substitutes available; they are expensive and have been insufficiently studied in the indication of leg ulcers. Pluripotent mesenchymal adult stem cells have proved capable of accelerating wound healing in animal models and their study in chronic wounds in humans is currently awaited.