What the Evidence Says About Stem Cell Therapy, Condition by Condition

Short answer: Blood stem cell transplant for blood cancers and blood disorders is the established use. For almost everything else, the studies we read are small, mixed, or still under way. In the table below we say what each study measured and found, with its year and type, and we give each row one of four evidence labels. We read these sources on 7 November 2026. This is an independent guide, not medical advice, and we have no clinic partner.

How to read the labels

We use four labels, from least to most research behind them:

• Research stage: mostly laboratory work, very small human studies, or trials still running.
• Early studies: human studies exist, but they are few, small or not randomized.
• Trials, mixed results: randomized trials exist and their results point in different directions.
• Standard care: an established treatment in guidelines and routine use.

The label is our reading of the sources in each row. It describes research, not whether a treatment will help you. The "Standard care in Thailand?" column says "Not found" where none of the sources we opened describe the use as routine care in Thailand. That is a statement about what we read, not proof that it does not exist.

The table

Condition by condition

Knee osteoarthritis

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials (Sadeghirad and colleagues) pooled 16 trials with 807 participants. At 3 to 6 months it found little or no difference in pain or physical function compared with placebo or usual care. At 12 months pain was similar, and function may have improved, with low certainty. It also reported that injections may raise adverse events such as knee pain and swelling. A 2025 meta-analysis of 8 trials with 502 patients (Cao and colleagues) found better WOMAC scores at 6 and 12 months, with no significant difference in adverse events. We label this row "Trials, mixed results" because the two reviews disagree. See our knee guide.

Low back pain from a disc

The RESPINE trial (Pers and colleagues, 2024) gave 114 patients one injection of donor bone marrow cells into the disc, or a sham. After 12 months, 74% of the cell group and 69% of the sham group counted as responders, a difference that was not statistically significant. No serious adverse events related to the injection were reported. A 2024 systematic review (Manchikanti and colleagues) rated the evidence for disc injections of platelet-rich plasma and stem cells as fair, Level III, and noted a shortage of high-quality studies. See our back pain guide.

Sports injuries

We found a source only for rotator cuff tendon injuries. A 2024 review (Hooper and colleagues) said cells may help reduce re-tears after repair, that randomized trials gave mixed results, that safety looked good, and that more rigorous trials are needed. We did not open a source for cartilage or ligament injuries, so we make no statement about them.

Healthy aging

A 2023 review in Frontiers in Aging (Garay) is a single-author narrative review, not a pooled analysis. It reports early positive results from phase II studies of an intravenous cell product in frailty, and says about sixteen further trials for frailty and facial skin aging were under way. It also raises a concern that intravenous cells may be trapped in the lungs. We did not find a meta-analysis of randomized trials on anti-aging, so we label this "Research stage".

Blood cancers and blood disorders

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) says an established stem cell treatment is blood stem cell transplantation, which has been used for more than 50 years. The US FDA says approved cord blood products are approved only for disorders affecting blood production. Nation Thailand's report of a May 2026 decree lists blood stem cell transplantation among the minimally processed products that stay outside the drug framework. See our legal guide.

Multiple sclerosis

A 2023 study in JAMA Neurology (Kalincik and colleagues) compared 167 patients who had an autologous blood stem cell transplant with matched patients on drugs, using registry data on 4,915 people with highly active relapsing-remitting MS. It was not a randomized trial. Annual relapse rates were 0.09 after transplant against 0.20 on fingolimod, and 0.08 against 0.10 on natalizumab. There was no significant difference against ocrelizumab at 3 years. One of 159 transplant patients died of treatment-related causes (0.6%). We did not open randomized MS transplant trials, so this label may understate the research.

Heart failure

The Cochrane review (Fisher and colleagues, 2016) covered 38 randomized trials with 1,907 participants with chronic ischemic heart disease or heart failure. For deaths at 12 months or more it reported a risk ratio of 0.42 (nine studies, 491 participants), graded low-quality evidence, with no clear difference in rehospitalization for heart failure. The authors urged caution. This review is ten years old. We did not check for a newer update.

Diabetes

A 2025 meta-analysis (Kashbour and colleagues) of 13 randomized trials with 507 patients, searched to January 2024, found lower HbA1c (a 0.72 point mean difference), lower daily insulin need and higher fasting C-peptide than controls at 12 months. Fasting glucose did not differ, and some results varied a lot between studies. The authors called for larger and longer trials.

Autism

A 2022 meta-analysis (Qu and colleagues) of five studies compared stem cell therapy plus rehabilitation with rehabilitation alone in children. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale score was lower in the stem cell group, but the Clinical Global Impression did not differ (62% against 60% responders), and adverse reactions did not differ. The authors listed small studies, no standard route or dose, and no long-term follow-up. We label it "Research stage".

What the table does not tell you

It does not tell you whether a clinic is licensed, what a treatment costs, or whether a particular product is legal in Thailand for your condition. For those questions, read how to check a clinic's license, our cost guide and our legal guide.