William P. Peters, MD, PhD

After nearly 30 years of dedication, the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry (IBMTR) and the Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry (ABMTR), by nearly any criterion, can be considered a success. The Registry contains over 120,000 patient records that are an invaluable source of information on both autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantations. Through the voluntary efforts of more than 350 institutions, it annually registers over 20% of all transplants occurring in nearly 50 countries and, by some estimates, nearly half of all transplants in North America.

Outpatient bone marrow transplant (BMT) strategies, as reviewed by Dix and Geller, have evolved for various reasons—from social to medical. If high-dose approaches are to become a viable treatment for common cancers, such as breast cancer, the refinement of transplants to a “kinder and gentler” approach is essential.