TY - JOUR
T1 - BMT for Severe Autoimmune Diseases
T2 - An Idea Whose Time Has Come
AU - Burt, Richard K.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Most patients with autoimmune diseases are thought to have a a normal life expectancy, and thus are treated conservatively. However, these diseases have a diverse clinical course. A small subset of patients have "severe autoimmune diseases," or SADS, which are rapidly progressive and are associated with early mortality. If patients with SADS can be identified before they develop irreversible organ damage, aggressive intervention would be indicated. Consequently, patients with SADS are now being enrolled in experimental protocols of immune ablation and hematopoietic stem-cell rescue (ie, bone marrow transplantation [BMT]) at several US institutions. For various reasons, including the high cost of BMT, it will probably be years before the benefits, if any, of this procedure are known.
AB - Most patients with autoimmune diseases are thought to have a a normal life expectancy, and thus are treated conservatively. However, these diseases have a diverse clinical course. A small subset of patients have "severe autoimmune diseases," or SADS, which are rapidly progressive and are associated with early mortality. If patients with SADS can be identified before they develop irreversible organ damage, aggressive intervention would be indicated. Consequently, patients with SADS are now being enrolled in experimental protocols of immune ablation and hematopoietic stem-cell rescue (ie, bone marrow transplantation [BMT]) at several US institutions. For various reasons, including the high cost of BMT, it will probably be years before the benefits, if any, of this procedure are known.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 9251121
AN - SCOPUS:0031180268
SN - 0890-9091
VL - 11
SP - 1001
EP - 1017
JO - ONCOLOGY
JF - ONCOLOGY
IS - 7
ER -