The history of haploidentical stem cell transplantation: a trip from the bench to the bedside.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is a curative intervention for both neoplastic and non-malignant conditions. However, not all patients have an HLA-matched donor. Therefore, the development of an approach that expand the donor pool was of paramount relevance. The development of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide as graft versus host disease prophylaxis allows the safe use of haploidentical donors, solving the donor availability problem to the vast majority of patients in need. The present paper reviews the history of the development of haploidentical transplantation at Johns Hopkins University, from the bench to the bedside.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Saudi Arabia between 1984 and 2016: Experience from four leading tertiary care hematopoietic stem cell transplantation centers.

Saudi Arabia is the largest of the Arabian Gulf countries with a total population of 33.41 million as of 2017. This report summarizes the experience from four leading tertiary care hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) centers in Saudi Arabia representing more than 90% of all HSCTs performed in the country. Between 1984 and 2016, a total of 6,184 HSCTs were performed. Of these, 3,586 HSCTs were performed in adults and 2,598 HSCTs were performed in pediatric patients. Malignancy was the main indication for transplantation (47%). While most transplants were performed from an identical sibling donor, HSCTs from cord blood, unrelated and, more recently, haploidentical donors have also been performed. Relative shortage of HSCT bed capacity is perceived to be a limiting factor in Saudi Arabia. Lately, more HSCT centers are emerging with rapid growth, which may significantly improve the access to HSCT in the country in the near future.

Bone marrow transplantation in the United Kingdom - past, present and future.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has evolved over the last 60 years from a pioneering treatment fraught with unknown factors and complications to a widely practiced standard of care that has saved the lives of countless individuals with malignant and non-malignant conditions. Over this period, transplanters in the UK have made a significant international contribution to the field through cutting edge clinical and laboratory research. Today, stem cell transplantation in the UK continues to advance through rigorous and innovative clinical trials which focus on improving outcome by reducing transplant toxicity and the risk of disease relapse. In this review, we start with a personal view of the early years of BMT in the UK, document the many seminal accomplishments in the field of BMT which took place in the UK, and end with a look towards the future of BMT, in the UK and worldwide.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Mucopolysaccharidoses: Past, Present, and Future.

Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has proven to be a viable treatment option for a selected group of patients with mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), including those with MPS types I, II, IVA, VI, and VII. Early diagnosis and timely referral to an expert in MPS are critical, followed by a complete examination and evaluation by a multidisciplinary team, including a transplantation physician. Treatment recommendations for MPS are based on multiple biological, sociological, and financial factors, including type of MPS, clinical severity, prognosis, present clinical signs and symptoms (disease stage), age at onset, rate of progression, family factors and expectations, financial burden, feasibility, availability, risks and benefits of available therapies such as HSCT, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), surgical interventions, and other supportive care. International collaboration and data review are critical to evaluating the therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects of HSCT for MPS. Collaborative efforts to assess HSCT for MPS have been ongoing since the first attempt at HSCT in a patient with MPS reported in 1981. The accumulation of data since then has made it possible to identify early outcomes (ie, transplantation outcomes) and long-term disease-specific outcomes resulting from HSCT. The recent identification of predictive factors and the development of innovative regimens have significantly improved the outcomes of both engraftment failure and transplantation-related mortality. Assessment of long-term outcomes has considered a variety of factors, including type of MPS, type of graft, age at transplantation, and stage of disease progression, among others. Studies on long-term outcomes are considered a key factor in the use of HSCT in patients with MPS. These studies have shown the effects and limitations of HSCT on improving disease manifestations and quality of life. In this review, we summarize the efficacy, side effects, risks, and cost of HSCT for each type of MPS.

In celebration of Ruggero Ceppellini: HLA in transplantation.

The availability of hematopoietic cell transplantation as curative therapy for blood disorders has been dramatically improved through a better understanding of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) barrier. Although a fully compatible unrelated donor is preferable, transplantation from donors with a limited degree of HLA mismatching is associated with acceptable outcomes in many cases. Research on the limits of HLA mismatching, and the features that define permissible HLA mismatches will continue to enable transplantation to be more broadly available to patients in need.

National Hematopoietic Stem Cells Transplant Registry in Poland: Nationwide Internet Reporting System and Results.

History of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations in Poland begins in early 1980s; the 1st bone marrow allotransplantation was performed in 1983 in the Central Clinical Hospital of the Military Medical Academy in Warsaw. Following years brought the 1st autologous stem cell transplantations. Ten years later, unrelated bone marrow transplantation was performed for the 1st time by the team of the Hematology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation Unit in Katowice. Since then, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation developed to be standard procedure and one of the most important therapies applied in leukemia treatment. The number of allotransplantations in Poland has grown significantly in the past 2 decades, which generated new needs and problems. In 2005, based on a new Transplant Law, a National Transplants Registry was created. Its main role is to collect data (registration of procedures and follow-up data) related to every transplantation case for stem cells and tissues as well as for organs. We present statistics concerning stem cell transplantations performed in Poland, as collected in the National Transplants Registry in the years 2006-2014. There are 18 centers transplanting hematopoietic stem cells in Poland. The total number of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations performed in 2006-2014 was 3,537, with allotransplantations from relatives accounted for 1,491 and from unrelated donors for 2,046. The main indication for allotransplantation in past years was acute leukemia.

To condition or not to condition-That is the question: The evolution of nonmyeloablative conditions for transplantation.

In 1985, Eugene Cronkite and his colleagues published, in Experimental Hematology, data indicating that five consecutive "transfusions" of large numbers of marrow cells significantly increase the number of donor-derived cells detected by day 10 of a spleen colony-forming assay, the most primitive hematopoietic cells detectable at that time, present in the host for as long as 2 months posttransfusion (Cronkite EP, Bullis JE, Brecher G. Marrow transfusions increase pluripotent stem cells in normal hosts. Exp Hematol 1985;13:802-805). These data provided the first evidence that donor hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) may persist in vivo for some time in recipients when transfused and not transplanted, that is, not subjected to treatments that deplete their marrow niches of endogenous HSCs. The limited technology available at the time prevented Dr. Cronkite from pursuing this observation into the development of nonmyeloablated transplantation procedures, and his experiment, as well as the term bone marrow transfusion, has since been long forgotten. In recent years, the scientific need to clarify HSC functions in nonstressed hosts and the clinical need to develop transplantation procedures with levels of morbidity/mortality acceptable for curing inherited hematologic disorders have inspired the search for nonmyeloablative transplantation procedures, including methods that "outcompete" endogenous host HSCs such as those pioneered by Dr. Cronkite's experiments using high transfusion doses. This review describes the technical progress made since Dr. Cronkite's insightful work, which has finally found its path to the clinic.

Sibling cord blood donor program for hematopoietic cell transplantation: the 20-year experience in the Rome Cord Blood Bank.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) represents a source of hematopoietic stem cells for patients lacking a suitably matched and readily available related or unrelated stem cell donor. As UCB transplantation from compatible sibling provides good results in children therefore directed sibling UCB collection and banking is indicated in family who already have a child with a disease potentially treatable with an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Particularly, related UCB collection is recommended when the patients urgently need a transplantation. To provide access to all patients in need, we developed a "Sibling cord blood donor program for hematopoietic cell transplantation". Here we report results of this project started 20years ago. To date, in this study a total of 194 families were enrolled, a total of 204 UCB samples were successfully collected and 15 pediatric patients have been transplanted. Recently, some authors have suggested novel role for UCB other than in the transplantation setting. Therefore, future studies in the immunotherapy and regenerative medicine areas could expand indication for sibling directed UCB collection.

Evolution of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Immunoglobulin Light Chain Amyloidosis.

Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis is the most common type of systemic amyloidosis. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is an effective treatment option for AL however due to multi-organ involvement in this disease HCT is feasible in a minority of patients. To maximize the benefit and minimize toxicity it is of paramount importance to optimize the selection of patients for HCT. In this review we discuss evolution of HCT and its typical application to a case of AL amyloidosis.

The Past, Present, and Future of NK Cells in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Adoptive Transfer.

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been used as a part of cancer therapy for over half a decade. Beyond the necessity for donor-derived cells to reconstitute hematopoiesis after radiation and chemotherapy, immunologic reconstitution from allogeneic cells is important for the elimination of residual tumor cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are first among lymphocytes to reconstitute post-transplant and protect against cancer relapse. In this review, we provide a historical perspective on the role of NK cells in cancer control in the transplant setting and focus on current research aimed at improving NK cell responses for therapeutic benefit.

Facilitating cells: Translation of hematopoietic chimerism to achieve clinical tolerance.

For over 50 y the association between hematopoietic chimerism and tolerance has been recognized. This originated with the brilliant observation by Dr. Ray Owen that freemartin cattle twins that shared a common placental blood supply were red blood cell chimeras, which led to the discovery that hematopoietic chimerism resulted in actively acquired tolerance. This was first confirmed in neonatal mice by Medawar et al. and subsequently in adult rodents. Fifty years later this concept has been successfully translated to solid organ transplant recipients in the clinic. The field is new, but cell-based therapies are being used with increasing frequency to induce tolerance and immunomodulation. The future is bright. This review focuses on chimerism and tolerance: past, present and prospects for the future.

Half a century of Dutch transplant immunology.

The sixties have not only witnessed the start of the Dutch Society for Immunology (NvvI), but were also the flourishing beginning of the discipline of transplant immunology. The interest in immunology in the Netherlands had its start in the context of blood transfusions and not for instance in the field of infectious disease, as in many other countries. It began in the 1950-ties thanks to Joghem van Loghem at that time director of the Central Laboratory of Blood Transfusion in Amsterdam. The discoveries of these times have had major impact for transfusion medicine, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and organ transplantation. In this review we will look back at some early highlights of Dutch transplant immunology and put them in the perspective of some recent developments.

Important milestones in acute leukemia in 2013.

This year marked the occurrence of several important milestones in the treatment of acute leukemias. First, the standard 7 + 3 protocol for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was developed 40 years ago, and with some adaptations, has stood the test of time. Second, the 1 millionth hematopoietic cell transplant was recorded this year. Stem cell transplant, the first reported by Dr E. Donnall Thomas in 1957, had been considered a rare procedure until about a decade ago. Today, it has become a proven and often life-saving therapy for patients with acute leukemia. Advances in the treatment of patients with AML continue to take place, many of which relate to an increased understanding of the clinical heterogeneity of known subtypes. Forty years ago, the regimen that has come to be known as 7+3 for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was born [1,2]. Cytosine arabinoside, or arabinosylcytosine as it was then called, was given as a continuous intravenous infusion of 100 mg/m(2) for 7 days, and the anthracycline, daunorubicin, was administered at 45 mg/m(2) intravenously for 3 days. Sixteen patients were originally treated on this protocol, and 5 of 8 previously untreated and 2 of 8 previously treated patients achieved a complete response (CR). This regimen has withstood the test of time. Attempts to add or substitute other agents have not yielded superior results. The only major contemporary change is that a higher dose of daunorubicin is safe and has become the standard of care [3].

High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell support for lymphoma--from experimental to standard treatment.

High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell support (HDT) has been a therapeutic option for lymphomas in Norway since as far back as 1987. By restoring bone marrow function through reinfusion of the patient's own stem cells, it is possible to administer cancer treatment in higher and otherwise lethal doses, and thereby achieve better treatment results. Originally stem cells were harvested from bone marrow and the high-dose therapy included total body irradiation, but since the mid 1990s stem cells have been harvested by apheresis and the high-dose therapy has consisted of chemotherapy alone (BEAM chemotherapy). In 1995 the treatment was regionalised and since then it has been performed in all health regions. The HDT procedure was introduced as an experimental treatment in clinical studies with international collaboration. The indications have changed over time, and this is now established treatment for a number of types of lymphoma.