European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION: A THERAPY TO EMBRACE LIFE FROM DEATH

*Sampriti Chakraborty, Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen and Dr. Beduin Mahanti

ABSTRACT

Stem cells are the center for regenerative medicine. Given a right signal these undifferentiated cells have a remarkable potential to develop into specialized cell types (blood cells, heart cells etc.) in the human body. Stem cells, therefore, can be used in cell-based therapies to replace/repair damaged tissues and/or organs. Ongoing research in the area of stem cells focuses on their potential application (both embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells) to create specialized cells and replace the damaged ones. Hence, this cutting-edge technology might lead to new ways of detecting and treating diseases. Bone marrow transplantation represents the technical application of basic immunologic principles to the treatment of a variety of neoplastic and allied disorders that originate in the bone marrow. The results have improved during the past 15 years, being most striking for the treatment of the acute and chronic leukemias. The promise of autologous bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of leukemias and solid tumors is awaiting the perfection of techniques for the effective removal of residual neoplastic cells as well as more effective therapy. The use of this technique at its present stage of development for the treatment of benign hematologic disorders, which cause severe morbidity (ie, thalassemia or sickle cell anemia), is controversial, raises serious ethical issues, and cannot be recommended routinely at this time. Complications of bone marrow transplantation such as graft rejection, graft-versus-host disease, and opportunistic infections are discussed. The present review, therefore, focuses on the growing use of stem cell transplantation in regenerative medicine to treat a variety of diseases. This review also provides the current status of the field with a particular emphasis on bone marrow transplantation.

Keywords: BMT, GVHD, MHC, HLA, ALL, AML, CLL, CML, HL, NHL, MDS, MPN, Myeloma.