History of Marrow and Blood Cell Transplants
The First Successful Transplant
Thomas in Cooperstown, N.Y., performed the first successful transplant in the late 1950s. The transplant involved identical twins, one of which had leukemia. Because identical twins share the same genetic make-up, transplants between twins avoid the problems associated with non-twin transplants, such as graft-vs. -Host disease. GVHD occurs when the transplanted cells (the graft) attack the patient (the host) as they would a foreign object or infection. In 1975, Thomas moved his research to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where much of the developmental work on bone marrow and blood stem-cell transplantation has been done. He received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1990, along with Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who pioneered kidney transplantation.
The First Allogeneic Transplant
It wasn't until 1968, in Minnesota, that the first successful non-twin (allogeneic) transplant was performed. In this case, the donor was a sibling of the patient. By this time, it was known that a key to a successful transplant was a specific type of genetic matching (known as HLA) of the donor to the patient. Because siblings receive DNA from the same parents, a sibling is the most likely person to be a good match. Having a closely matched donor can help avoid graft-vs. -Host disease. However, many people do not have a sibling who is HLA-matched. In this situation, an HLA-matched unrelated donor can be used.
The First Unrelated Transplant
The first successful unrelated donor transplant took place in 1973 in New York when a young boy with a genetic immunodeficiency disorder received multiple marrow transplants from a donor identified as a match through a blood bank in Denmark. The first successful unrelated donor transplant for a patient with leukemia took place in 1979 at the Hutchinson Center.
Donor Matching Starts
In 1979, Laura Graves, a patient with leukemia, was referred to the Hutchinson Center. Laura did not have a matched donor in her family, so Center staff searched through their database of platelet donors in an attempt to find a match. Luckily, one of the laboratory staff turned out to be a good match. Laura's transplant was successful, and she did not develop graft-vs. -Host disease. Although Laura died two years later of recurrent leukemia, the Graves family continued to lead an effort to establish a national registry of people volunteering to be bone-marrow donors. The National bone marrow donor Registry was federally funded in 1986, and in 1987 the first donor match was made. In 1988, the name was changed to the National Marrow Donor Registry (NMDP). The NMDP now includes a network of donor registries in 30 countries. Its database contains more than 5.5 million donors and facilitates an average of 200 transplants each month.
Thomas in Cooperstown, N.Y., performed the first successful transplant in the late 1950s. The transplant involved identical twins, one of which had leukemia. Because identical twins share the same genetic make-up, transplants between twins avoid the problems associated with non-twin transplants, such as graft-vs. -Host disease. GVHD occurs when the transplanted cells (the graft) attack the patient (the host) as they would a foreign object or infection. In 1975, Thomas moved his research to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where much of the developmental work on bone marrow and blood stem-cell transplantation has been done. He received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1990, along with Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who pioneered kidney transplantation.
The First Allogeneic Transplant
It wasn't until 1968, in Minnesota, that the first successful non-twin (allogeneic) transplant was performed. In this case, the donor was a sibling of the patient. By this time, it was known that a key to a successful transplant was a specific type of genetic matching (known as HLA) of the donor to the patient. Because siblings receive DNA from the same parents, a sibling is the most likely person to be a good match. Having a closely matched donor can help avoid graft-vs. -Host disease. However, many people do not have a sibling who is HLA-matched. In this situation, an HLA-matched unrelated donor can be used.
The First Unrelated Transplant
The first successful unrelated donor transplant took place in 1973 in New York when a young boy with a genetic immunodeficiency disorder received multiple marrow transplants from a donor identified as a match through a blood bank in Denmark. The first successful unrelated donor transplant for a patient with leukemia took place in 1979 at the Hutchinson Center.
Donor Matching Starts
In 1979, Laura Graves, a patient with leukemia, was referred to the Hutchinson Center. Laura did not have a matched donor in her family, so Center staff searched through their database of platelet donors in an attempt to find a match. Luckily, one of the laboratory staff turned out to be a good match. Laura's transplant was successful, and she did not develop graft-vs. -Host disease. Although Laura died two years later of recurrent leukemia, the Graves family continued to lead an effort to establish a national registry of people volunteering to be bone-marrow donors. The National bone marrow donor Registry was federally funded in 1986, and in 1987 the first donor match was made. In 1988, the name was changed to the National Marrow Donor Registry (NMDP). The NMDP now includes a network of donor registries in 30 countries. Its database contains more than 5.5 million donors and facilitates an average of 200 transplants each month.