AUTOLOGOUS BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

Autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) is a treatment modality increasingly used to treat a growing number of malignancies both in children and in adults. The theoretical rationale is the transfer of dose-action relationship from pharmacological theory to clinical practice. The basic principles, the important indications and the problems of this particular approach are discussed. Normally bone marrow from the iliac crest is used as stem cell source, but the possibilities of the approach become broader by using peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). This treatment modality and its particular use in neuroblastoma is described demonstrating also the results.