INFOGRAPHICS
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Prostate cancer
People with cancer of the prostate currently have numerous treatment options available to them. But one of the most established, a type of radiation therapy known as brachytherapy, seems to be falling out of favour with clinicians.
Liver cirrhosis
Once thought to be irreversible, cirrhosis of the liver now seems treatable — and drug development is proceeding apace.
Ulcerative colitis
Ulcerative colitis is a debilitating and incurable condition. But researchers have found fresh angles of attack, and a host of upcoming treatments raise the prospect of a durable victory against this common form of inflammatory bowel disease.
Repairing the neural highway
The spinal cord rarely repairs itself when damaged, but ways of encouraging nerves to regrow are on the horizon.
Closing the gap
A bone fracture that fails to heal after initial treatment can lead to prolonged disability. Regenerative therapies might help to restart the bone-healing process, getting the people affected back in action.
Saving life and limb
Many people with critical limb ischaemia have no option but to have the affected limb amputated. Can regenerative medicine offer an alternative?
Marching to a new beat
In the most severe cases, a ruptured eardrum can require surgery to put it right, but tissue-engineering techniques might provide a much simpler solution.
Let there be sight
Loss of the stem cells that constantly renew the surface of the cornea causes pain and, in some cases, blindness. Advances in transplantation and cell culture are helping to restore vision to even the most severely affected people.
