In short
Stem cell therapy is the administration of stem cells — commonly derived from a patient's own bone marrow or fat tissue (autologous), or from donor umbilical cord or placental tissue (allogeneic) — with the goal of repairing or regenerating damaged tissue.
Stem cells' defining properties are self-renewal (dividing to make more stem cells) and potency (the ability to differentiate into one or more specialized cell types), and different sources yield cells with different differentiation capacity — mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the type most commonly used in clinics offering longevity or orthopedic stem cell treatments, can differentiate into bone, cartilage, and fat cells and are also thought to act partly through paracrine signaling (releasing factors that influence surrounding tissue) rather than solely by directly replacing damaged cells.
FDA-approved stem cell therapies remain limited to specific, well-defined indications — primarily hematopoietic stem cell transplants for blood cancers and certain blood disorders, using bone marrow or umbilical cord blood stem cells. The general "stem cell therapy" offered at many longevity and wellness clinics for anti-aging, joint pain, or systemic rejuvenation purposes is, in the large majority of cases in the U.S. and most other jurisdictions, not an FDA-approved use, and the FDA has issued public warnings about unapproved stem cell products, including documented cases of serious adverse events (including infections and blindness from unapproved injections).
Clinical trials investigating stem cell therapy for various conditions are ongoing and registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, and legitimate investigational use exists within properly regulated trial settings. The evidence gap for someone considering stem cell therapy outside a clinical trial is significant: efficacy for general anti-aging or systemic rejuvenation is not established by controlled human trials, and the field includes real safety risks from unregulated products and administration outside appropriate medical oversight.
Worth remembering
- FDA-approved uses are limited to specific hematologic conditions via hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
- General anti-aging or rejuvenation stem cell therapy is, in most jurisdictions, an unapproved use.
- The FDA has documented serious adverse events from unapproved stem cell products.