Autologous bone marrow transplantation for hematologic cancer

In summary, autologous BMT is emerging as a way to deliver myeloablative therapy to patients with hematologic cancer ineligible for allogeneic BMT. Moreover, there are likely circumstances in which autologous is preferable to allogeneic BMT--most notably in Hodgkin's disease, but likely also in the older adult acute leukemia patient. Work is clearly required to produce upgraded conditioning regimens, and to define the need for and utility of marrow purification procedures. However, these pressing needs should not obscure the benefits of the current use of autologous BMT techniques for selected patients--nor prevent the realization that improved patient selection is the most immediate method to improve current results.