Bone marrow transplantation: major advance in cancer therapy

Bone marrow transplantation is now recognized as one of the major advances in cancer therapy occurring in the past three decades. The USAF Medical Corps recognized the future need and potential for bone marrow transplantation programs and began sponsored physician training in the late 1970's. Additionally, a bone marrow transplantation unit was designed and incorporated into the new physical plant of Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center (WHMC). The first human autologous bone marrow transplantation at WHMC was performed 6 December 1982. Since then, approximately 100 patients have undergone the procedure. As bone marrow transplantation procedures have become more extensively applied and accepted as the standard of care for selected diseases, the need for the Department of Defense (DOD) military-medical complex to provide allogeneic transplantation services has grown tremendously. This program brings the most up-to-date therapy for the treatment of many cancers to the USAF and DOD and provides the avenues for further advances in cancer therapy in the decades to come. In addition, this program has exciting potentials in the chemical warfare defense area of battlefield medicine.