The Results of Bone Marrow Transplantations. in 10 Iranian Patients Travelled and Treated Abroad are Presented Here

  SUMMARY Up to 15 years ago, bone marrow transplantation was experimental, but in the recent years it has gained an important role in the field of Medicine, and it has clearly been established as a therapeutic modality for a wide range of diseases. During 1950-1955 when marrow transplant was first attempted in human, little was known about transplant antigens. Supportive care techniques such as blood products, effective new antibiotics were in their primitive state and quite limited. Despite these problems, investigators in North America and Europe made enormous efforts to induce tolerance and graft acceptance. Extensive studies were done in animals. Dr. E. Donall Thomas and other researchers made extensive experiments in canine and other lab animals for many years. Except for few successful transplant between identical twin donor - recipient, results of the early trials were uniformly disappointing, until the discovery of HLA antigen with more knowledge in immunohematology, then progress started to be made. There are now a number of centers in the USA, Europe and in the Asia with the capability of carrying out bone marrow transplants with good Standard. Each patient must be evaluated individually and the patient, donor, the family must be fully informed about the benefits, costs and expected complications of this procedure. In the last 15 years exellent progress has been made in the results and procedures of the bone marrow transplantation. Near to 700 unrelated donors for bone marrow transplantation were reported worldwide in ASH Meeting held in Boston December 1990. This progress will undoubtedly continue as more and compare results. Despite of the hardships, risks, costs, complications, marrow transplantation still offers the only potential cure for many patients with hematologic disorders.