Hematopoietic cell transplantation for thalassemia: a global perspective BMT tandem meeting 2013

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) remains the sole available curative option for patients with β-thalassemia major. Expanded and improved supportive therapies for thalassemia now routinely extend the life span of affected individuals well into adulthood. Consequently, in regions of the world where this care is readily available, HCT has been pursued infrequently, in part owing to concerns about an expected lack of balance between risks and benefits. More recently, however, recognition of significant health problems in older patients with thalassemia, along with recognition of increased risks of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), graft rejection, and impaired organ function leading to inferior HCT outcomes in this particular group, seem to be turning the wheels and tipping the balance again in the direction of consideration for earlier HCTs. In contrast, in countries where thalassemia is most prevalent (>100,000 new children born each year in Middle East and southeast Asia), lack of supportive care standards together with often insufficient access to dedicated health care facilities, results in the majority of these children not reaching adulthood, further supporting the need for expanded access to HCT for these patients. The cost of HCT is equivalent to that of a few years of noncurative supportive care, such that HCT in low-risk young children with a compatible sibling is justified not only medically and ethically but also financially. International cooperation can play a major role in increasing access to safe and affordable HCT in countries where there is a considerable shortage of transplantation centers. In this article, we review the current status of bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia major, with particular emphasis on a global prospective.