Bone marrow purging

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is undertaken in a heroic attempt to increase the cute rate in malignancy and to treat deadly metabollic disorders. After ablative therapy, patients are transfused with their own or with HLA matched or haploidentical bone marrow. The inoculum cells or mature T cells which cause graft versus host disease. Meetings such as the recent First International Workshop on Bone Marrow are important as a forum for a review of current developments, advice about the selection of techniques - many of them exquisitely ingenious and efficient - and for a discussion of the exact role of bone marrow purging in the complex process of patient management.