“Gene therapy involves taking a therapeutic gene and inserting it into the cells of a degenerating disc,” according to Mark Hubert, MD, lead author of the article. “This stimulates the cells to produce certain therapeutic proteins, such as growth factors and matrix proteins, that can help create an improved cushioning effect that is necessary in order to have a healthy disc.”

Hubert is part of a team of researchers headed by James Kang, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Hubert indicates that while this type of therapy is in an experimental stage and is several years away from being available to patients, he hopes that it will eventually be able to help slow down – and possibly reverse – the process of painful disc degeneration. If successful, it may help patients suffering with this disorder avoid surgery.

Current treatments for symptomatic disc degeneration can include, but are not limited to:

• Physical therapy
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Epidural steroids
• Surgery

These traditional treatments are meant to help patients whose disc degeneration is symptomatic and already well-established. Hubert says that gene therapy would be implemented at the earliest stages of disc disease to prevent the progressive degeneration of the disc. “We would hopefully prevent the problems associated with disc degeneration by attacking it earlier,” he says.

Symptoms associated with painful disc degeneration may include:

• Stiffness in lower back
• Back pain when bending, twisting or carrying heavy objects
• Weakness in the lower extremity, radiating pain to the buttocks and upper thighs

There is currently no way to reverse the process of disc degeneration. Hubert says, “Once it starts it is usually going to continue." However, unlike arthritis of the knees or hips, most patients with disc degeneration have few symptoms. As individuals age, disc degeneration becomes more common, yet back pain from painful disc degeneration is less prevalent among individuals older than 50.

Gene therapy may one day be able to alleviate the symptoms of painful disc degeneration. This therapy is currently being tested in research studies and investigators indicate that, in some of the animals, the disc disease has shown significant improvement with slowing of the degenerative process.

However, human clinical trials are years away and, currently, safety issues are still being investigated. “With further research, gene therapy may one day be a powerful tool in the treatment of disc degeneration," Hubert says.