[Bone marrow transplantation in cancer patients]

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been done as one mode of cancer therapy which has the possibility of curing some cancer patients. In Nagoya, more than half of leukemia patients who received allogeneic BMT in a remission state became long-term survivors, and autologous BMT for acute lymphoblastic leukemia has been successfully done using monoclonal antibodies for purging leukemia cells from bone marrow. According to our experiences with leukemia BMT, the following essential conditions for performing successful BMT in cancer patients were discussed, 1) preconditioning therapy for eradication of cancer cells, 2) supportive care for prevention of side effects of BMT including virus infections such as cytomegalovirus, and 3) compatibility of HLA antigens.