HEMATOPOIETIC STEM-CELL TRANSPLANTATION FOR CANCER-THERAPY

Bone marrow transplantation has become well established in the treatme nt of malignant disorders. High-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic s tem cell support is widely used for most hematological malignancies, a s well as for some solid tumors. In the light of recent developments i n blood progenitor cell harvest, there have been clinical trials with autologous and allogeneic transplants. In particular, the availability of large numbers of blood stem cells, mobilized by granulocyte colony -stimulating factor and collected by leukapheresis, has made it possib le to overcome histocompatibility barriers in HLA-mismatched leukemia patients. Other recent developments include new methods for blood prog enitor cells mobilization and exvivo expansion, the use of umbilical c ord blood as an alternative source of stem cells, and molecular techni ques that may, in the future, provide other modalities of purging tumo r cells from autologous grafts.