Cord blood transplantations in Europe during the last decade (source EBMT).
The present | The future | List of diseases
The study of stem cells is beginning to define a new era in medicine and biomedical research. The investigation of these remarkable cells promises potential therapies for numerous diseases and injuries. In our country (Greece), stem cells became widely spread only during the latest years while it has been almost 20 years since the first clinical use. In 1988, at Saint Louis hospital in Paris, a team of doctors with head Dr E. Gluckman, an 8 year-old boy was transplanted using stem cells from his newborn brother. Cord blood was used for the therapy of a very rare type of anemia (Fanconi anemia).
Since then, over 6000 transplantations have taken place worldwide, both to children and adults, for the treatment of a variety of diseases.
- Diseases of the hematopoietic and immune system (anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, etc).
- Other types of malignancy (neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, etc).
- Metabolic diseases.
Some of the above diseases have already been encountered with successful transplantations in Greece.
