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JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2000 92(3):190-192; doi:10.1093/jnci/92.3.190A
© 2000 by Oxford University Press
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 92, No. 3, 190A-192, February 2, 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press

NEWS

Bone Marrow Experts Are Still Debating the Value of Purging

Steve Benowitz

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation can be associated with patients living disease-free with some cancers for long periods of time. However, all too often the cancer returns. In patients with acute myeloid leukemia, for example, there is more than a 50% chance that the disease will return despite such treatment.

An alternative—"purging"—would clean the marrow of all cancer cells and, it is hoped, leave only hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells. These "rescued" hematopoietic stem cells—the mother of all types of blood cells—and progenitor cells—stem cells that are committed to differentiating into a particular type of blood cell—would be put back into the body, giving birth to a new, cancer-free blood supply and immune system.

The strategy seems straightforward—in theory. Yet for many bone marrow transplant specialists, purging remains a controversial procedure. "It’s an appealing concept, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Waiting for Proof

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