Using a patient's own cells to treat COPD

Chinese researchers have successfully completed a preliminary study that uses a COPD patient’s own healthy lung cells to repair their damaged ones. — 123rf.com

An experimental treatment that sees a patient’s own cells transplanted into damaged parts of their lung could offer new hope to sufferers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers have said.

A new preliminary study, involving only 20 patients, has shown that it is possible to repair damaged lung tissue among certain COPD patients using their own lung cells.