2016 Volume 23 Issue 2 Pages 108-114
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) cures various hematologic diseases such as leukemia. History of development of HSCT could be categorized as “age of dawning” in 1970’s, “age of expansion” in 1990’s, when various transplant procedures were developed and indication of HSCT was expanded by the use of alternative sources of hematopoietic stem cells, establishment of bone marrow and cord blood banking, and the current “age of maturation”, when HLA barrier is breaking and quality of life posttransplant is improved. During such a long history of refinement of HSCT, long-term assumption of the requirements for successful HSCT, including HLA matching between the donor and host, myeloablative conditioning regimen, posttransplant immunosuppression, and germ-free environment has been revisited. In this issue, current status and future perspective of HSCT is discussed.
