title: Cell-based therapy in articular cartilage lesions of the knee.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of cell-based therapy for articular cartilage defects of the knee.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a literature search in Medline (1994 to 2009) regarding cell-based therapies for chondral lesions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 10 Level I or II randomized controlled trials and 3 Level II prospective comparative studies. Although many of these studies had substantial flaws, which could introduce bias, we overall found no difference between the cell-based studies and other interventions. In addition, we identified 26 Level III and IV studies of cell-based therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is insufficient evidence from the studies included in this review to say whether cell-based therapy is superior to other treatment strategies in articular cartilage lesions of the knee.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. n-nakamura@ort.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Norimasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takahide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyama
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Engebretsen
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Konsei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shino
mesh_terms: D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries*; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D010008:Osteochondritis Dissecans / Q000628:therapy; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome