Clinical pancreatic islet transplantation

Pancreatic islet transplantation is an effective β-cell replacement therapy that has the capacity to normalize glycaemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitusTo date, over 1,500 patients have undergone islet transplantation in approximately 40 international centresThe long-term clinical outcomes of islet transplantation alone in selected centres are now similar to the results of whole-pancreas transplantation alone, with 50–70% of patients achieving insulin independence at 5 yearsAn NIH funded phase III multicentre trial in North America has confirmed that islet transplantation is a safe and effective method for treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus complicated by hypoglycaemia unawareness and serve hypoglycaemic events