The essence of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is to implant normal hematopoietic stem cells into the patient’s body and use the ability of hematopoietic stem cells to continuously replicate and differentiate themselves to rebuild the patient’s hematopoietic function. In the 1940s, scientists discovered that the bone marrow and spleen contained hematopoietic stem cells for rebuilding hematopoietic function.
In 1957, Thomas, an American scientist, performed the world’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Two patients with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated with systemic radiation therapy and received bone marrow from an allogeneic donor, both of which reconstituted hematopoiesis within a few weeks. Since then, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been widely performed worldwide. Hematopoietic stem cells are like the “seeds” of the body’s blood-forming organs, from which the body’s blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets) are differentiated and matured. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be used to treat tumor diseases such as leukemia, certain malignant solid tumors, and non-tumor diseases such as aplastic anemia, and severe anemia.
In 2008, more than 40,000 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation cases were completed in Europe alone.Prof. Thomas was also awarded the Nobel Prize for pioneering hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the only clinician to have received the Nobel Prize so far.