Abstract: |
Bone marrow transplantation is the method of choice for the treatment of a number of fatal diseases including severe combined immunodeficiency, leukemia, aplastic anemia, and others. However, the applicability of the method has been limited to those patients for whom matched donors (siblings or others) are available because of the development of graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD). 1 Graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD) develops in more than 50% of the recipients of allogeneic-matched bone marrow and is fatal in up to 25% of those affected. 2-5 Immunosuppressive therapy has been used to decrease or eliminate the symptoms of the GvHD in certain patients; however, these patients continue to be at high risk of fatal complications due to infection. 5-9 © 1988 by Taylor and Francis. |