Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for aplastic anemia

After more than 60 years of intense research in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), this therapy has progressed from one that was fraught with seemingly insurmountable complications to a standard treatment of patients with aplastic anemia aplastic anemia: (ay-PLASS-tik uh-NEE_mee-uh) A rare and serious condition in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The term aplastic is a Greek word meaning not to form. Anemia is a condition that happens when red blood cell count is low. Most… . During the 1970s and 1980s, HCT donors were almost exclusively HLA HLA: See human leukocyte antigen. -identical siblings. Subsequent advances in the understanding of the complexity of the HLA region along with the development of molecular HLA typing and the establishment of unrelated volunteer donor registries have resulted in an ever-increasing use of such donors. Most recent breakthroughs have enabled HLA-haploidentical HCT and, thereby, finding donors for nearly every patient. The outstanding outcomes reported with any of the donor options have made allogeneic HCT the preferred treatment over immunosuppressive therapy immunosuppressive therapy: Immunosuppressive drug therapy lowers your body's immune response. This prevents your immune system from attacking your bone marrow, allowing bone marrow stem cells to grow, which raises blood counts. For older patients with acquired aplastic anemia, immunosuppressive drug therapy is the… .