Showing papers by "Marco Canepa published in 2007"

[Italian clinical trials on cardiac cell therapy: where we are and where are we going?].

Abstract: BACKGROUND In the last years translation from bench to bedside of findings regarding cardiac cell therapy is swinging between delays and accelerations Based on experimental studies, clinical trials were started in 2001 To date in Europe more than 900 patients have been treated with cell transplantation or mobilization and new clinical trials are ongoing in many countries Published data provide a limited idea of current Italian clinical research in this field This investigation intends to report Italian clinical trials and projects using cell therapy in cardiology METHODS Italian Centers involved in cell therapy clinical studies have been detected exploring scientific bibliography and online search engine Selected Centers have been classified by the origin of collected information: i) peer-reviewed journals; ii) abstract, poster or communications; iii) press or media A questionnaire was used and face-to-face or telephonic interviews were performed to obtain further details where needed RESULTS Among the 16 selected Centers, 5 published their experiences on peer-reviewed journals, 5 produced abstracts or communications for scientific meetings and 6 bring out their protocols through press or media Usually Italian clinical trials are monocenter (11 monocenter studies, 2 multicenter) and enrol few patients (an average of about 10 patients treated in each study); 2 Centers are waiting for protocol approval by the Italian Institute of Health; in one case approval was not obtained by the Ethics Committee Few centers found projects on their own preclinical studies CONCLUSIONS The investigation on Italian clinical experiences with cardiac cell therapy demonstrates the limits of what has been produced so far An Italian working group on cardiovascular regenerative therapies could represent a useful tool to improve national clinical research in this field

Clinical studies of cardiac cell therapy in Italy

Abstract: A national study group has been established by the Italian Federation of Cardiology to investigate the role of stem/progenitor cell therapy in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This article is aimed to point out the challenges and debated issues in the conduction of clinical trials, focusing on the Italian clinical and regulatory existing situation.