A clinical trial at Mass Eye and Ear tested a stem cell therapy called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cells (CALEC) on patients with severe cornea injuries. It involved harvesting stem cells from a healthy eye, expanding them in a lab, and transplanting the tissue to the affected eye. The 18-month follow-up showed a 90% success rate in restoring the cornea's surface in 14 patients. This development offers a solution for individuals facing blinding corneal injuries not previously rectifiable by traditional methods, highlighting a significant advance in ophthalmologic treatments.
Our first trial showed that CALEC was safe and the treatment was possible," said principal investigator Ula Jurkunas. "Now we have data supporting that CALEC is more than 90 percent effective at restoring the cornea's surface."
When a person suffers a cornea injury, it can deplete the limbal epithelial cells, which can never regenerate. The resulting limbal stem cell deficiency renders the eye with a permanently damaged surface.
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