Advances in haplo-identical transplantation
In the last few years, the use of haplo-identical donors for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) has emerged as an attractive approach for many patients. The pioneering work from Hopkins demonstrated that haplo-identical allo-HCT can be routinely performed when using the so-called “post-cyclophosphamide” technique. The latter was shown to be feasible in several disease settings or patients’ categories, and had the added benefit of expanding the transplant option to patients who are lacking a matched-related or unrelated donor. Currently, the use of haplo-identical allo-HCT is challenging the need for unrelated donors or cord blood cells. However, despite several thousands of patients receiving haplo-identical allo-HCT reported to national and international registries, the true value of haplo-identical allo-HCT in the management of hematological and non-hematological malignancies is, as yet, difficult to delineate. Currently, there are only very few, if any, prospective, randomized, or controlled trials that addressed the specific role of haplo-identical allo-HCT in net health outcomes that should include, in a specific disease setting, an analysis of disease-free survival and overall survival balanced against treatment-related toxicity, complications, and death.
This collection from the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation, offers a compendium of articles published in the last 3-4 years. This collection is dedicated to the encounter of international scientists and clinicians involved in the field of haplo-identical allo-HCT. It provides an exciting overview of the state-of-the-art research on a broad range of clinical topics related to haplo-identical allo-HCT. Thus, it represents an important source of timely information, and is intended to serve as a valuable reference for those who are involved in this field.
At present, the use of haplo-identical allo-HCT appears to be on the cutting-edge. Since the first reports, hundreds of scientists and clinicians have joined the haplo-identical allo-HCT vessel. The haplo-identical allo-HCT literature has exponentially expanded over the last few years. The complexity of haplo-identical allo-HCT practice is progressively deciphered and the optimism to regard haplo-identical allo-HCT as a potential and promising treatment modality for many patients remains very high among investigators, warranting continuous and renewed clinical and therapeutic research in this area.
