Why clinical trials in disc regeneration strive to achieve completion: Insights from publication status and funding sources

Abstract

BackgroundChronic discogenic low back pain (LBP) poses a significant global burden, yet effective therapeutic interventions directly targeting the underlying degenerative process remain elusive. After demonstrating promising results in preclinical studies, intradiscal injection of cell‐based treatments has been increasingly investigated in the clinical setting. However, most clinical trials failed to reach publication, with the few available reports showing only minor improvements. The aim of this study was to analyze the prospective clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov investigating cell therapies for LBP, with a specific emphasis on identifying critical obstacles hindering study completion, including trial design and funding sources.MethodsA systematic search of prospective clinical trials investigating cell‐based treatments for chronic LBP due to intervertebral disc degeneration was performed on ClinicalTrials.gov. Extracted data encompassed study design, recruitment, experimental treatment modalities, investigated outcomes, current status, completion date, publication status, and funding sources. Fisher's exact test assessed associations between categorical variables, while a multiple logistic regression model aimed to identify factors potentially linked to the publication status of the studies.ResultsOur search identified 26 clinical trials. Among these, only 7 (26.9%) were published, and none of the other studies marked as completed reported any results on ClinicalTrials.gov. Fifty percent of included trials were funded by universities, whereas the rest was sponsored by industry (38.5%) or private institutions (11.5%). Experimental treatments primarily involved cell‐based or cell‐derived products of varying sources and concentrations. Products containing carriers, such as hyaluronic acid or fibrin, were more frequently funded by industry and private organizations (p = 0.0112). No significant differences emerged when comparing published and nonpublished studies based on funding, as well as between publication status and other variables.ConclusionMost clinical trials exploring cell‐based disc regenerative therapies for chronic LBP have never reached completion, with only a small fraction reporting preliminary data in publications.

A comprehensive review of cell transplantation and platelet‐rich plasma therapy for the treatment of disc degeneration‐related back and neck pain: A systematic evidence‐based analysis

“…A recent comprehensive review by Ambrosio et al highlighted that only 26.9% of registered trials have resulted in a scientific publication. 82 Furthermore, our analysis of the available reports revealed a generally disappointing quality in the descriptions of outcomes, study design, and statistical analyses. For instance, although many studies proposed using imaging modalities as an outcome measure, only 14 out of 68 studies (20.6%) actually included imaging‐related outcomes in their reporting.…”