title: Tissue engineering and the intervertebral disc: the challenges.
abstract: Disc degeneration is a common disorder. Although the back pain that can develop in association with this is rarely life-threatening, the annual cost in terms of morbidity, lost productivity, medical expenses and workers' compensation benefits is significant. Surgical intervention as practised currently is directed towards removing the damaged or altered tissue. Development of new treatment modalities is critical as there is a growing consensus that the strategies used currently for symptomatic degenerative disc disease may not be effective. Accordingly, there is a need to develop an entirely new way to treat this disorder; regenerative medicine and tissue engineering approaches appear particularly promising in this regard. This paper reviews some of the challenges that currently are limiting the clinical application of this approach to the treatment of disc degeneration.
authors.affiliation: CIHR-Bioengineering of Skeletal Tissues Team, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X5, Canada. rkandel@mtsinai.on.ca
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kandel
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Jill P G
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Urban
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery*; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D018579:Patient Selection; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends