from Part V - Animal models and clinical applications
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015
Introduction
Bladder tissue engineering technology has provided an alternative treatment for patients with congenital bladder conditions (e.g. bladder exstrophy) and conditions such as radiation damage, infection, interstitial cystitis, neuropathic small bladder disease, and bladder cancer. To treat these end-stage bladder diseases, a partial or total cystectomy is often performed, followed by the creation of a neobladder or a continent urinary reservoir using intestinal segments to restore bladder capacity. However, using bowel tissue for this purpose may cause many side effects, although a recent study showed that all children with neurogenic bladder disease are at increased risk of bladder cancer regardless of exposure to intestinal tissue in the urinary tract [1]. Therefore, new clinical and surgical techniques are needed in order to allow these patients to live healthier and more normal lives. The authors of a clinical study recently reported that it is possible to engineer neo-bladder tissue using autologous cells seeded on biodegradable scaffolds [2] and that this engineered tissue can be used to enlarge the bladder volume and improve function for patients with neuropathic diseases. Additionally, increasing evidence indicates that the use of patients’ own stem cells provides a promising alternative for patients with end-stage bladder diseases in cases in which healthy autologous bladder cells might not be available.
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