Cell-based treatments of lung diseases: overview and outlook

Chronic lung diseases (CLD), including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension, represent a significant health burden worldwide and their incidence is steadily increasing. Specifically, COPD and lung fibrosis lead to progressive tissue loss, particularly in the alveolar region, and can currently mainly be treated symptomatically, with some therapies slowing down progression. Regenerative cell therapy offers promising approaches to repair and restore permanently damaged lung tissue, focusing on different cell types such as epithelial, stromal, endothelial and pluripotent stem cells. Despite positive results in preclinical studies and initial clinical trials, large successes are lagging behind. This shows that there is still a considerable need for further research into e.g. optimal conditions, including cell sources and administration methods in humans. Challenges such as successful translation of beneficial strategies in animal models, safety risks of new strategies and the control of cell localization need to be addressed in more detail. Future research approaches should therefore support the identification of suitable cell types, the improvement of cell protection strategies and the development of predictable human models to enable the successful clinical application of regenerative cell therapy in CLD.