Study finds cell-based therapy not superior to corticosteroid injection for knee OA
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Key takeaways:
- Cell-based injections were not superior to corticosteroid injection for patients with knee OA.
- Pain scores and radiological outcomes were similar between patients who received corticosteroids vs. biologics.
At 1-year follow-up, various cell-based injections were not superior to a corticosteroid injection for pain and radiological outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to results published in Nature Medicine.
Researchers performed a four-arm parallel, multicenter, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial that analyzed 440 patients with knee OA with a Kellgren- Lawrence grade 2 to 4. According to the study, 108 patients received a corticosteroid injection (CSI), 107 patients received autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC), 116 patients received umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UCT-MSC) and 109 patients received stromal vascular fraction (SVF). Outcomes were assessed at 1 year after injection and included VAS and KOOS pain scores, as well as MRI.
Researchers found no superiority between any of the cell-based injections compared with each other and compared with the CSI cohort. Change in VAS score from baseline to 1 year was 20.9 in the CSI cohort, 24.3 in the BMAC cohort, 20.1 in the UCT-MSC cohort and 19.4 in the SVF cohort. Similarly, change in KOOS score from baseline to 1 year was 17.7 in the CSI cohort, 19.1 in the BMAC cohort, 16.2 in the UCT-MSC cohort and 17.2 in the SVF cohort.
Among all four cohorts, researchers found no significant changes in knee OA on MRI from baseline to 1 year and no procedure-related complications at 1 year.
“In summary, this study shows that at 1year post injection, there was no superior orthobiologic as compared to CSI for knee OA,” the researchers wrote in the study.
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