ALLOGENEIC BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION IN LEUKEMIA

Erradication of leukemia by high dose chemotherapy and total body irradiation (TBI) and the capacity of hemopoietic stem cells to repopulate the marrow form the basic concept of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in leukemia. First attempts at allogeneic BMT were made soon after the discovery of the hemopoietic stem cell. They all failed because of rejection and Graft-versus-Host disease (GvHD) (1). The recognition of the major histocompatibility complex was the basis of the first successful BMT’s in immune defiency syndromes where HLA-identical siblings served as donors (2–4). Results of BMT in leukemia, however, remained unsatisfactory because it was used almost exclusively for terminally ill patients with end-stage disease.