ABSTRACT
Current estimates of the numbers of stem cell transplants performed each year range from 20 000 to 40 000, and continue to increase. Indications for transplantation now include malignant, non-malignant, and congenital diseases. The development of non-myeloablative approaches for allogeneic transplantation have expanded the ability to test transplantation as therapy for common solid tumors (e.g. renal, melanoma, prostate, breast, cervical, etc.), and to offer transplantation to individuals who because of age or major organ dysfunction were otherwise not candidates for a conventional transplant.1,2 The sources of stem cells for transplantation include bone marrow, mobilized peripheral blood, cord blood, and fetal liver, which can be obtained from autologous or related and unrelated allogeneic sources. Marrow transplantation is now more appropriately referred to as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
