The latest knowledge of liver regenerative medicine.

Abstract

Of the 40,000 people in Japan with liver disease, such as hepatocellular carcinoma and viral cirrhosis , 10,000 die annually because of severe liver failure. Although the only fundamental treatment of severe liver failure is liver transplantation, due to a lack of donors, only less than thirty percent of patients receive a donated liver. Recently, regenerative medicine is attracting attention as a new method to cope with a shortage of donors. Regenerative medicine of the liver related to vascular network construction and liver organization has been studied through various approaches, such as stem cell research, cell sheet engineering, and extra-cellular matrix (ECM). The stage of clinical application is now approaching.