Tissue engineering of urinary bladder – current state of art and future perspectives

INTRODUCTION: Tissue engineering and biomaterials science currently offer the technology needed to replace the urinary tract wall. This review addresses current achievements and barriers for the regeneration of the urinary blad- der based on tissue engineering methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medline was search for urinary bladder tissue engineering regenerative medicine and stem cells. RESULTS: Numerous studies to develop a substitute for the native urinary bladder wall us- ing the tissue engineering approach are ongoing. Stem cells combined with biomaterials open new treatment methods, including even de novo urinary bladder construction. However, there are still many issues before advances in tissue engineering can be introduced for clinical application. CONCLUSIONS: Before tissue engineering techniques could be recognize as effective and safe for patients, more research stud- ies performed on large animal models and with long follow–up are needed to carry on in the future.