What Are Some Examples of Stem Cell Therapy? Types, Uses and What Miami Patients Should Know

“Stem cell therapy” is one of those phrases that means very different things depending on who says it. A cancer center uses it to describe a bone marrow transplant. A sports medicine clinic uses it to describe an injection into a knee. A beauty spa may use it to describe a facial. These are not the same treatment, they do not carry the same evidence, and they are not regulated the same way.

This guide gives you clear examples of stem cell therapy, grouped by how they are used, with plain-language notes on what each one is, what it is used for, and whether it is FDA-approved. It is written for anyone in Miami who has heard the term and wants to know what is real.

What Are Examples of Stem Cell Therapy?

Common examples of stem cell therapy include bone marrow (hematopoietic) stem cell transplants, umbilical cord blood transplants, gene-modified blood stem cell therapies for sickle cell disease, one mesenchymal stem cell product for a pediatric transplant complication, and, in regenerative clinics, injections of bone marrow concentrate, fat-derived cells or umbilical cord-derived products into joints and other tissues. The first group is established hospital medicine and includes FDA-approved products. The clinic-based injections, for example in the knee, are generally investigational, meaning they are not FDA-approved for those uses and the evidence ranges from moderate to early.

Examples of Stem Cell Therapy at a Glance

The first six are the “medical-grade” examples most people have never heard of. The last four are what many people mean when they search for stem cell therapy near them.

First, What Is a Stem Cell?

Stem cells are cells that can renew themselves and, depending on the type, develop into other cell types. Three broad categories come up in medicine:

• Blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells: found in bone marrow, circulating blood and cord blood. They make red cells, white cells and platelets.
• Mesenchymal stem or stromal cells (MSCs): found in bone marrow, fat and cord tissue. They are thought to act mainly by releasing signals that reduce inflammation and support repair. See our overview of mesenchymal stem cells.
• Pluripotent stem cells (embryonic and induced pluripotent): can become almost any cell type. They are a major focus of laboratory research but are not used in ordinary clinic injections.

Where the cells come from also matters. Your own cells are called autologous; donor cells are allogeneic. Our guide to stem cell sources, your body vs. a donor explains the difference.

Part 1: Hospital-Based Examples (Established Medicine)

These are the best-established uses of stem cells. They involve specialist teams, intensive preparation and monitoring, and are very different from an outpatient injection.

1. Autologous stem cell transplant

In an autologous transplant, a patient’s own blood-forming stem cells are collected, stored, and returned after high-dose treatment. It is used for certain blood cancers, such as some lymphomas and multiple myeloma. The goal is to rebuild the blood system after treatment that would otherwise damage the bone marrow too severely.

2. Allogeneic stem cell transplant

In an allogeneic transplant, the cells come from a donor, often a matched relative or an unrelated donor from a registry. In addition to rebuilding the blood system, donor cells can help attack remaining cancer cells, but they can also cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), where donor immune cells attack the patient’s tissues. Read more in our comparison of allogeneic vs. autologous stem cell transplant. The National Cancer Institute also provides a patient-friendly explanation of how stem cell transplants are used in cancer care.

3. Umbilical cord blood transplant

Cord blood is the blood left in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, and it is rich in blood-forming stem cells. The FDA states that the only stem cell products currently approved in the United States are blood-forming stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, approved for patients with disorders that affect the production of blood, and that they are not approved for other uses. See the FDA’s patient and consumer information on regenerative medicine therapies. Note that cord blood is different from cord tissue; see our explainer on the difference between cord blood and tissue stem cells.

4. Omisirge (omidubicel-onlv)

Approved by the FDA in April 2023, Omisirge is used in adults and children 12 and older with certain blood cancers who are planned for a cord blood transplant. It is intended to speed recovery of infection-fighting white cells and reduce infections. In the pivotal randomized trial of 125 patients, median time to neutrophil recovery was 12 days with Omisirge versus 22 days with standard cord blood. The label also carries boxed warnings, including for fatal or life-threatening infusion reactions. See the FDA announcement.

5. Gene-modified stem cell therapies: Casgevy and Lyfgenia

In December 2023 the FDA approved Casgevy and Lyfgenia, the first cell-based gene therapies for sickle cell disease in patients 12 and older. Both use the patient’s own blood-forming stem cells, modified in the laboratory and given back as a one-time infusion after the patient receives high-dose chemotherapy. Casgevy uses CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing; Lyfgenia uses a viral vector. Lyfgenia carries a boxed warning for blood cancer, and patients need lifelong monitoring. See the FDA press release.

This is a good example of what real stem cell medicine looks like: a defined product, a specific disease, controlled manufacturing, trial data and a regulatory review.

6. Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd): the first approved MSC therapy

In December 2024 the FDA approved Ryoncil for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in children 2 months and older. It was the first FDA-approved MSC therapy. According to the FDA’s approval notice, approval was based on a single-arm study of 54 pediatric patients with a 70% overall response rate at day 28. Common side effects included infections, fever, bleeding, swelling, abdominal pain and high blood pressure.

Important: Ryoncil is approved for one complication in one population. It does not mean MSCs are approved for joint pain, anti-aging or any other use. For the full picture, see our guide to FDA-approved stem cell treatments.

Part 2: Outpatient Regenerative Medicine Examples (Mostly Investigational)

This is the category most people find when they search for stem cell therapy in Miami. These are typically outpatient procedures, often involving an injection into a joint, tendon or other tissue. None of the examples below is FDA-approved for treating orthopedic conditions, and evidence varies.

7. Bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC)

What it is: A small amount of bone marrow is drawn from the pelvis under local anesthesia, spun in a centrifuge to concentrate cells and growth factors, and injected into the area being treated.

Source: Your own body (autologous).

Commonly used for: Knee and hip arthritis, some tendon and cartilage problems, and early avascular necrosis in combination with surgery.

What the research suggests: Studies for knee osteoarthritis are mixed. A 2025 meta-analysis of randomized trials in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (abstract) found moderate-to-large improvements in knee symptom scores after a single MSC injection, while another 2025 analysis in Frontiers in Medicine (PDF) concluded much of the benefit could be contextual, with low certainty of evidence. Both point the same way: possible modest benefit, not a cure.

Learn more about the process in how stem cell therapy is done and how stem cell therapy is used for knees.

8. Adipose (fat)-derived cell treatments

What it is: A small amount of fat is collected, typically from the abdomen or flank, and processed to obtain a cell-rich preparation, which is then injected.

Source: Your own body (autologous).

Commonly used for: Joints and some soft-tissue problems. Fat-derived products are also studied in other areas such as hair, where a 2023 systematic review of 15 studies found promising but inconsistent results.

Things to ask: How the fat was processed, whether the product was minimally manipulated, and what the regulatory pathway is.

9. Umbilical cord-derived products

What it is: Preparations derived from umbilical cord tissue (such as Wharton’s jelly) or related materials, often supplied as a manufactured product from a donor.

Source: A donor (allogeneic).

Commonly used for: Joint pain and arthritis, among other uses advertised by clinics.

Key questions: Does the product actually contain living cells, or is it processed so that cells are removed? How was it manufactured and tested? What is the regulatory status? These questions matter a great deal, because the FDA has taken action against unapproved cord-derived products. Learn more in our guides to umbilical cord stem cell therapy and bone marrow vs. umbilical cord stem cells.

10. Related products often grouped with stem cell therapy

Some treatments are marketed alongside stem cells but are not stem cell therapy themselves:

• PRP (platelet-rich plasma): concentrated platelets from your blood. Often used for tendon problems and knee arthritis, with a larger evidence base for some uses. See stem cell therapy vs. PRP therapy in Miami.
• Exosomes: tiny vesicles released by cells, not living cells. The FDA states there are currently no approved exosome products. See is exosome therapy FDA-approved.
• Muse cells: a rare cell subset being studied in early trials in Japan. See our explainer on Muse cells.
• “Stem cell” skin treatments and facials: usually topical products containing plant extracts or growth factors, which are not cell transplants.

Part 3: Research Examples You May Hear About

Some examples of stem cell therapy exist mainly in clinical trials or laboratories:

• Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cells: being tested for conditions such as eye diseases, Parkinson’s and heart conditions in early trials.
• Embryonic stem cell-derived cells: studied for several conditions, with ethical and technical debates.
• Stem cells for spinal cord injury, stroke and ALS: under study in trials. Our overview of stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury describes where the research stands.
• Tissue-engineered products: cells grown on scaffolds to make skin, cartilage or other tissues, in certain specialized uses.

If you are interested in any of these, search ClinicalTrials.gov for a legitimate study rather than paying a clinic for an unproven version.

Comparing the Main Examples Side by Side

The takeaway: the word “stem cell therapy” covers a huge range of risk, complexity and evidence. A bone marrow transplant and a knee injection are not interchangeable, even though they share a name.

How Each Example Is Thought to Work

Different examples work in different ways, which is one reason they cannot be lumped together.

Replacement. In a bone marrow, blood or cord blood transplant, the goal is to replace a diseased or destroyed blood-forming system with healthy stem cells that settle in the marrow and make new blood cells. This is a true cell replacement, and it is why these treatments can be lifesaving.

Correction. In gene-modified therapies such as Casgevy and Lyfgenia, the patient’s own blood-forming cells are altered in the laboratory so that they make a healthier form of hemoglobin, then returned to the patient.

Modulation. In Ryoncil, MSCs are used for their ability to calm an overactive immune response in graft-versus-host disease. The idea is regulation of inflammation rather than replacement of tissue.

Support and signaling. In most outpatient joint and tendon treatments, injected cells are thought to release growth factors and anti-inflammatory signals that influence the local environment. Most researchers believe the injected cells do not turn into large amounts of new cartilage or tendon. That is an important reason to keep expectations realistic. For more, see our explainer on how stem cells enhance blood vessel formation.

A Brief History: Where These Examples Came From

Stem cell therapy is not new. Bone marrow transplantation has been used for decades to treat blood diseases, and it is the foundation of the field. Cord blood transplants began expanding access to patients who lacked a matched donor. More recently, advances in gene editing and cell manufacturing produced the first gene-modified blood stem cell therapies, approved in 2023, and the first MSC product, approved in 2024.

Meanwhile, outpatient regenerative medicine grew rapidly from the 2000s onward, driven by interest in treating joint and sports injuries without surgery. That growth outpaced formal approvals, which is why many offerings today sit in a gray area between promising research and unproven marketing. Understanding this history explains why two things called “stem cell therapy” can be so different in evidence and oversight.

Myths vs. Facts About Stem Cell Therapy Examples

Myth: “All stem cell therapy is the same.” Fact: A bone marrow transplant for leukemia and a knee injection share a name but differ in source, risk, purpose and regulation.

Myth: “If it is called stem cell therapy, it must be FDA-approved.” Fact: Only specific products for specific conditions are approved. Outpatient injections for orthopedic problems are not.

Myth: “Cord blood and cord tissue products are the same thing.” Fact: Cord blood is rich in blood-forming stem cells and has approved uses. Cord tissue products are a different category, with different regulatory questions.

Myth: “Using your own cells makes it risk-free.” Fact: Procedures can cause infection, bleeding or pain, and the quality of processing matters.

Myth: “A stem cell facial is a stem cell transplant.” Fact: Facials typically use topical products and do not involve transplanting living stem cells.

Myth: “More cells always means better results.” Fact: Dose research is still unsettled, and one 2025 meta-analysis found that lower doses did at least as well as higher ones in knee studies.

Three Illustrative Scenarios

These are general examples of how decisions can differ. They are not predictions or real patient stories.

Scenario 1: A newly diagnosed blood cancer. A patient’s oncologist recommends a stem cell transplant. This is established hospital care, and the decision involves a transplant team, donor matching and insurance. It has nothing in common with an outpatient injection, and a clinic offering “stem cell therapy” is not a substitute.

Scenario 2: Moderate knee arthritis. A 57-year-old in Miami has knee pain that has not responded to physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medication. This is the situation where outpatient BMAC or similar injections are most often considered. A good consultation would cover the mixed evidence, realistic expectations, cost, and alternatives such as surgery.

Scenario 3: Curiosity about “anti-aging.” An adult in good health wants stem cells for general wellness. There is no human evidence that stem cell products slow aging, so the most honest advice is to focus on proven habits and to be cautious of costly products making broad claims.

What Is on the Horizon?

Research continues in several directions:

• More gene-modified blood stem cell therapies for inherited blood and immune diseases.
• Cell therapies for eye, heart and brain conditions, often using laboratory-grown cells.
• Better standardized MSC products with defined doses and manufacturing methods.
• Larger randomized trials for orthopedic uses, which would show whether outpatient injections truly help.
• Cell-derived products such as exosomes, which are being tested but are not yet approved.

If any of these areas affect you, check ClinicalTrials.gov regularly, and talk with your physician before enrolling anywhere.

Practical Tips for Miami Patients

• Know which example you are being offered. Ask directly: which cells, from where, processed how.
• Ask for the evidence for your condition, not general statements about stem cells.
• Bring your records to any consultation, including imaging and medication lists.
• Get a second opinion, especially for a serious diagnosis or a large expense.
• Be cautious with travel. If you are considering treatment abroad, compare safety standards and follow-up carefully before you go.
• Keep your own records of the product, date and provider.

How to Tell Which Example You Are Being Offered

If a clinic mentions stem cell therapy, use these questions to place it in context.

1. What is the source of the cells? Your own bone marrow or fat? Donor cord tissue? Something else?
2. Are living cells actually in the product? Some products marketed as “stem cell” contain few or no living cells.
3. How is it processed? Same-day processing of your own tissue is different from a manufactured donor product.
4. What is the regulatory status? Is it FDA-approved, or offered under another pathway?
5. What is it being used for? Is that use supported by human studies?
6. Who is performing it, and with what guidance? Imaging guidance and physician training matter.

Our guide to how to choose a stem cell therapy treatment center goes through these in detail.

What a Typical Outpatient Stem Cell Visit Looks Like

For outpatient examples such as BMAC or fat-derived treatments, a typical visit has these steps:

1. Consultation. Your history, imaging and goals are reviewed. A good provider tells you whether you are a candidate.
2. Collection. Bone marrow or fat is collected under local anesthesia, usually in 15 to 30 minutes.
3. Processing. The sample is concentrated, often within about 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Delivery. The product is injected into the target area, often with ultrasound or X-ray guidance.
5. Aftercare. You receive activity guidance and a follow-up plan.

Many people go home the same day. Read what to expect in our guide to a stem cell consultation in Miami.

Risks and Side Effects

Risks depend on the type of treatment.

Hospital transplants and gene therapies carry serious risks, including infection, graft-versus-host disease for donor cells, organ complications and, in some cases, boxed warnings for blood cancer. They are used when the disease itself is life-threatening.

Outpatient injections generally have milder risks: soreness, bruising and swelling, a temporary pain flare, infection (rare), bleeding, reactions to donor-derived products, and the real possibility of no benefit. The FDA has also warned about harms from unapproved stem cell products, including infections and other serious problems, which is why product quality matters.

For more, see our pages on safety of stem cell therapy for joints and the stem cell therapy safety guide.

Cost: What Do Different Examples Cost?

• Hospital transplants and approved gene therapies are very expensive, but they are medical treatments for serious diseases that insurance often covers when criteria are met.
• Outpatient regenerative injections are generally not covered by insurance because they are investigational, so patients usually pay out of pocket. Costs vary by product, condition and number of treatments.

Ask for a written, itemized quote that includes follow-up. For context, see our overview of the average cost of stem cell therapy and stem cell therapy costs in Miami.

Is Stem Cell Therapy FDA-Approved?

It depends entirely on which example you mean:

• Yes, for specific uses: cord blood-derived blood-forming products for blood-production disorders, Omisirge, Casgevy, Lyfgenia and Ryoncil, each for a defined condition.
• No, for outpatient uses like knee or back pain: BMAC, fat-derived and cord-derived injections for orthopedic conditions are not FDA-approved.

The FDA warns that if you are offered an unapproved product outside a clinical trial, you should be cautious, and it publishes a consumer update on stem cell therapies. State rules add another layer, and being legally offered is not the same as being proven effective. The ISSCR’s patient resources are another trustworthy place to learn how to evaluate a clinic.

Red Flags When Researching Stem Cell Treatments

• A single product advertised for dozens of unrelated conditions
• Guaranteed or “cure” language
• Testimonials used in place of data
• Vague answers about the source and processing of cells
• Pressure to prepay for a large package
• Use of the term “stem cell” for products that are not cell therapies at all
• No imaging or evaluation before a price is quoted

A trustworthy clinic will explain which example of stem cell therapy it offers, what the evidence is, and when you are not a candidate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some examples of stem cell therapy?

Examples include bone marrow and cord blood transplants, gene-modified blood stem cell therapies for sickle cell disease, one approved MSC product for pediatric GVHD, and outpatient injections of bone marrow concentrate, fat-derived cells or cord-derived products.

What is the most common type of stem cell therapy?

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (bone marrow, blood or cord blood) is the longest-established and best-proven type. In outpatient clinics, joint injections are the most common.

Is bone marrow transplant a stem cell therapy?

Yes. A bone marrow transplant is a stem cell transplant, using blood-forming stem cells to rebuild the blood system.

Is PRP a stem cell therapy?

No. PRP is concentrated platelets from your blood. It is often offered alongside stem cell treatments but is a different product.

Are exosomes stem cells?

No. Exosomes are tiny vesicles released by cells. They are not living cells, and no exosome product is FDA-approved.

Which stem cell therapies are FDA-approved?

Cord blood-derived blood-forming products, Omisirge, Casgevy, Lyfgenia and Ryoncil, each for specific conditions. No stem cell injection is FDA-approved for arthritis or other orthopedic problems.

What is the difference between autologous and allogeneic stem cell therapy?

Autologous uses your own cells. Allogeneic uses cells from a donor.

Is stem cell therapy for knees a real example?

It is a real and commonly offered procedure, but it is investigational. Research suggests possible modest benefit for some people with knee arthritis and no guarantee of results.

Are stem cell facials real stem cell therapy?

Usually not. They typically involve topical products with growth factors or plant extracts rather than a cell transplant.

How much does stem cell therapy cost?

It varies widely. Hospital treatments are often covered by insurance for approved uses; outpatient injections generally are not.

Is stem cell therapy safe?

Safety depends on the type. Hospital transplants carry serious risks; outpatient injections usually carry milder ones, but infection, reactions and no benefit are possible.

How do I know which type is right for me?

Start with a diagnosis, ask which example is being offered and why, and speak with a physician who will discuss the evidence and your alternatives.

Bottom Line

The best answer to “What are some examples of stem cell therapy?” is that there are two very different worlds under one name. In hospitals, stem cell transplants, cord blood products, gene-modified therapies and one MSC product treat specific serious conditions under strict oversight. In outpatient regenerative clinics, injections of bone marrow concentrate, fat-derived cells and cord-derived products are used mainly for joints and tissue problems, with mixed evidence and no FDA approval for those uses. Knowing which example you are being offered is the first step to making a good decision.

If you are in Miami and want a straightforward conversation about which options, if any, make sense for you, you can book a free 15-minute consultation at Miami Stem Cell in South Miami, or contact our team with your questions. You can also learn more about us before you decide.

Disclaimer: Individual results vary. This is general information, not medical advice.