Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Liver Cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis refers to extreme scarring of the liver, resulting in suboptimal function of the liver. It can result from a variety of causes, ranging from hepatitis B and C infection, excessive alcohol consumption, autoimmune causes, fatty liver and others. Irrespective of the cause, once the liver becomes cirrhotic, it is a downhill course. Liver cirrhosis is irreversible and most patients will progressively worsen over time. Once liver cirrhosis has reached the stage of decompensation, that is, development of jaundice, ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy and coagulopathy the two-year survival drops to about 50%. The definitive treatment of decompensated cirrhosis is liver transplantation. While a liver transplantation is potentially curative, the high costs, lack of a donor, treatment-related mortality and the immunosuppression complications make this option possible only for a limited number of patients. The vast majority do not have an effective option at all, thus the need to develop alternative therapies. Various types of Stem Cells had been investigated as a regenerative therapy for liver cirrhosis. These stem cells include bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNC) and peripheral CD34 positive cells. Some early studies have shown encouraging results in patients who had autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation. There was improved liver function in these patients with cirrhotic livers. The sponsor is proposing a study to look into the role of MSC therapy for patients with liver cirrhosis in Singapore. This will be a Phase I/II study with the main emphasis on the safety profile first. The trial will be conducted in compliance with the protocol, GCP and local regulatory requirement(s).