Bone marrow and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Poland.

The concise history of BMT development, from experimental studies to clinical practice, is presented. Bone marrow transplantation has been performed in Poland for more than ten years, starting with a few to almost 500 procedures up to 1999. The above was accomplished thanks to successive founding of the 14 active BMT centers throughout Poland, which presently perform from 10 to 130 BMTs per annum (mean 34). About 70% of the above number are autologous BMTs, the remaining are allogeneic BMTs from HLA compatible sibling donors and recently from compatible unrelated donors (URD). During the last few years there is an increasing trend in the number of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations derived from peripheral blood (PBSCT), not only in patients with leukaemias and malignant lymphomas, but also in patients with solid tumors. The BMT results achieved in Poland correspond to results obtained worldwide. In relation to other European countries there are less BMT teams (about 50%) and less BMT procedures (also about 50%) performed per annum (according to EBMT data calculated per 10 million inhabitants). Thanks to the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Health more and more patients are qualified for high dose chemotherapy, increasing their chances for long term disease free survival and, eventually, for cure.