The use of autologous transplantation in the treatment of malignant disorders
Territo, M.
Journal of Rheumatology. Supplement 48: 36-40
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0380-0903 PMID: 9150116 Document Number: 471796
Autologous transplantation uses high dose chemotherapy (with or without radiation therapy) followed by hematopoietic stem cell support in an attempt to cure certain malignant conditions. Autotransplantation can be considered as a treatment modality, if the tumor demonstrates a steep dose-response curve, marrow toxicity is the major dose limiting side effect of the active chemotherapeutic agents, and the source of the cells used for hematopoietic reconstitution is free of viable tumor cells. Hematopoietic stem cells can be obtained from peripheral blood after recovery from chemotherapy induced neutropenia or following treatment with hematopoietic growth factors and these peripheral blood stem cells are the predominant product used for autologous transplants at the present time. Autotransplantation has been shown to be useful in the treatment of certain patients with lymphomas, leukemias, myeloma, breast cancer, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, and selected other tumors.