title: Update 2012: Regenerative Medicine in Wounds: Current Use of Growth Factors, Cell Therapy, and Negative Pressure Wound Therapy for Chronic Wounds.
abstract: While we move toward the brink of being able to regenerate or replace human cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish normal function, we are not there yet. The techniques that are available and being brought to bear on the field of chronic wounds include: growth factors, gene therapy, stem cell transplantation, tissue engineering, and reprogramming cell and tissue types. We review the biomedical techniques from bench to animal to human application. The clinical approaches from what has been tried in clinical growth factor application to the injection of stem cells or progenitor cells directly into a wound (cell therapy) are also reviewed. In addition, newly opening trials in topical cell therapy, injectable stem cell therapy, and topical autologous growth factor are addressed. Although tissue engineering is a very significant portion of regenerative medicine, it has recently been addressed well by other authors. We focus on why we are spending less time on specific growth factor therapy and more resources on cellular therapy. Finally, we address where negative pressure wound therapy fits into regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: Chief of the Division of Vascular/Endovascular Surgery, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lantis Ii