The Science Behind Stem Cell Therapy: Research Review and Future Prospects (2026)
Scientific Review by the Clinical Editorial Team | Published: November 2019 | Last Reviewed: July 2026 | Category: Regenerative Medicine | Evidence Review Quick Answer Stem cell research has grown to over 379,000 published studies on PubMed as of mid-2026, but the evidence is not uniform across conditions. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for leukemia and lymphoma is decades-old, FDA-licensed standard of care. A donor islet cell therapy, Lantidra , became the first FDA-approved cellular therapy for type 1 diabetes in 2023, and a stem-cell-derived successor, zimislecel , is now in Phase 3 trials. Everything else on this page — stroke, osteoarthritis, spinal cord injury, autoimmune disease, heart disease, autism, anti-aging, hair loss, kidney and liver disease, and back pain — remains investigational, with no FDA-approved stem cell product for these indications. The FDA has repeatedly warned that clinics marketing unapproved st...