In search of safer marrow transplants

From Atlanta, at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology

A bone marrow transplant preceded by destruction of one’s own bone marrow with radiation or chemotherapy is a bleak prospect for a leukemia patient. Although the procedure can be lifesaving, it carries toxicity risks and weakens the patient. That’s why people with autoimmune diseases rarely get a marrow transplant—even though it’s potentially curative.