There are many clinical trials ongoing worldwide that are addressing the use of stem cell therapy in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. At least ten studies are actively recruiting subjects to test this therapy in the management of COPD. None of these COPD trials are at the phase-3 level of attempting to definitively prove their effectiveness. Rather, their focus is to address safety and test some aspects of effectiveness. This underscores the type of incremental and careful research that can contribute to our knowledge of how to best treat COPD and how to incorporate stem cell therapy with existing proven strategies to manage this disease.