Building rings with spheres: a cell therapy approach to incontinence

Fecal incontinence is a prevalent condition, that remains vastly underreported. The condition impacts the patients’ quality of life and has negative socio-economic and environmental impact on the society. Current patient management guidelines recommend a stepwise approach to treating fecal incontinence, from conservative treatment options, through minimally invasive surgical options, all the way to first- and second-line surgical options. Unfortunately, the conservative treatments remain ineffective, and, in many cases, the surgical options are either not desirable or not suitable. Regenerative medicine, and specifically, cell therapy, has the potential to offer a curative treatment that is less invasive, more effective and efficient. Cell therapy technologies, while still under development, can improve the current state-of-play in the realm of fecal incontinence at the clinical, patient, and socio-economic level. The aim of this article is twofold. Firstly, it is to raise awareness about the silent affliction that fecal incontinence is and about the impact that it has on patients and society. Secondly, it is to position cell therapy, relative to the current treatment approaches, including, for example, sacral nerve stimulation and sphincteroplasty, as to emphasize its potential to provide a suitable treatment alternative. 

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