ABSTRACT
Despite the era of targeted biologic therapies, a considerable number of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) do not achieve clinical remission with an accumulating risk of organ failure and increased mortality. For these patients, autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been applied since 1996 with more than 300 cases reported worldwide. Clinical data demonstrate a disease-free survival of 50–65% at 5 years post-transplantation despite discontinuation of immunosuppression, while mortality rates gradually decrease from initially 12% to <5% in recent reports. Based on these data, HSCT is considered a clinical option according to current recommendations in carefully selected patients.
