Heart failure treatments that use cells from the patient’s own bone marrow and heart can lead to substantial long-term benefits, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.
Researchers from several different institutions collaborated on the CONCERT-HF Phase II clinical trial, which assessed the impact of treating heart failure patients with either autologous mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), c-kit positive cardiac cells (CPCs) or both. While CPCs come from a patient’s bone marrow, CPCs originate from the heart.
All patients enrolled in the CONCERT-HF trial—125 in total—presented with heart failure related to chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. The average left ventricular ejection fraction was 28.6%. Patients were either treated with CPCs alone, MSCs alone, a combination of CPCs and MSCs or a placebo.
Overall, the authors found, treatment with CPCs alone was associated with a significant decrease in major adverse cardiac events when compared to a placebo. Also, the patient’s quality of life saw a significant improvement when treated with MSCs alone or a combination of MSCs and CPCs.
However, the team added, ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular volumes, scar size and peak oxygen consumption did not significantly change from one treatment option to the next.
“This is a very important advance in the field of cell therapy and in the management of heart failure,” lead author Roberto Bolli, MD, director of the University of Louisville Institute of Molecular cardiology, said in a statement. “It suggests that a treatment, given only once, can produce long-term beneficial effects on the quality of life and prognosis of these patients. The results pave the way for a larger, Phase III trial of cell therapy in heart failure.”
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Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.