Advances in regenerative medicine and their impact on cancer therapy and tumor microenvironment modulation

Regenerative medicine has emerged as a transformative field that can augment cancer therapy by leveraging stem cells, gene therapy, and tissue engineering to address limitations of conventional treatments. This review synthesizes recent advances in cell-based therapies, biomaterial scaffolds, gene-delivery systems, and nanoparticle platforms, and it organizes key unresolved controversies that shape research priorities: safety and tumorigenicity of stem-cell platforms; optimal TME-versus-tumor-directed strategies; durability and scalability of gene-delivery systems; balancing immune activation with off-target inflammation; and criteria for clinical translation and patient selection. We summarize updated clinical outcome data where relevant and provide recommendations to guide translational research and trial design toward safer, durable, and personalized regenerative oncology approaches.