News Release: Regenerative Cell Therapy Treatment for Osteoarthritis

Southern Highlands' medical doctors are to be given a detailed presentation on the results to date of a comparatively new treatment for osteoarthritis in which a patient's own stem cells are used to relieve pain and regenerate the affected joint.

The treatment, known as HiQCell and developed by Australian company Regeneus Limited, involves using liposuction to obtain a patient's adipose tissue (fat) and, from that tissue, to harvest stem cells. The cells are then processed within the surgery and re-injected into the patient's affected joint.

To date, 29 people have been treated, including 10 in the Southern Highlands and the results are reported to be outstanding. Dr Nick Hartnell, Orthopaedic Surgeon in Bowral, has been one of the first to successfully treat these 10 patients in the Southern Highlands region.

Dr Richard Lilischkis, Head of Human Health at Regeneus, says invitations are currently being sent to all GP's active in and near the Southern Highlands.

"The area has an older demographic and it is likely that many GPs are treating patients affected by osteoarthritis to varying degrees."

"We believe the results to date support our view that, provided a patient is well-selected for the HiQCell treatment, the benefits are considerable and the treatment may be preferable to many years of a drug regime to manage pain before the inevitable joint replacement," Dr Lilischkis said.

To date, elite athletes as well as older individuals with chronic arthritis conditions have undergone the HiQCell treatment. All have reported improvement but, according to Dr Hartnell, there will be people whose joints are so badly damaged or unstable that this treatment is not a long-term solution - only surgery will fix them. But even in these cases, he says, the HiQCell treatment has resulted in significantly less pain.

Dr Lilischkis says that, at present, not many medical practitioners are aware of the HiQCell treatment.

"We have deliberately moved slowly with only very few orthopaedic and sports medical specialists offering the treatment to date. However, we are now in a position to offer the treatment more widely and briefing Southern Highlands' medical practitioners and specialists is part of that process."

"The presentations will give insights of the function of regenerative cells and they will outline, in detail, how the treatment works, the procedures involved both for the doctor and for the patient and, importantly, how to select patients so that the best possible outcome is achieved."

Dr Hartnell said an issue currently was that the cost of the treatment is not subsidised either by Medicare or by the health funds.

"Nevertheless, when the one-off cost of regenerative cell treatment is compared with sometimes years of prescribing drugs, numerous scans, specialist referrals before ultimately requiring joint replacement surgery, we are sure there will be some patients who will see the treatment as value for money, in particular if the treatment results in total or significant relief of pain."

"We expect a good deal of interest from the Southern Highlands' medical fraternity and we will be generous in providing them with chapter and verse of our treatment's development and the outcomes achieved to date," Dr Lilischkis said.

The Regeneus presentations will take place on two evenings at the end of October and personal invitations have been sent out.

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