Haematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy: From Bone Marrow Transplantation to Cardiac Repair

Dr. Tamás Masszi graduated from Semmelweis University, Budapest, in 1983, became board certified in internal medicine in 1988, and in hematology in 1993. He defended his Ph.D. thesis at Semmelweis University in 2001. Doctor Masszi’s hematology career started in the III Dept. of Medicineat Semmelweis University, followed by a fellowship in bone marrow transplantation in Paris in 1991, at the BMT Unit of Saint Louis Hospital. In 1993 he was appointed as consultant hematologist at St. László Hospital, Budapest, where he started a new transplant program for adults. In 1997, he became the head of the BMT Unit. In 2005 hewas appointed as the head of the Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, at the National Medical Centre Budapest and since 2007 he has been the Head of the Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, at St. István and St. László Hospital of Budapest. Dr Masszi is currently the chair of the Education Committee of the European Group of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the president of the Hungarian Society of Haematologyand Transfusiology. He authored more than 60 papers in the field of malignant hematological disorders.

Abstract

The first successful allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantations were performed 40 years ago in 3 children with congenital immune deficiency diseases. The haematopoietic stem cells were collected from the bone marrow of sibling donors who were genotypically identical to the recipient for HLA. Since then, thousands of patients have received haematopoietic stem cell transplants to treat life-threatening malignant and non malignant diseases. The theoretical basis of these transplantations is the stem cell concept: the understanding that one single cell (the haematopoietic stem cell) can recreate the whole bone marrow function. In the early 2000’s it turned out that bone marrow derived stem cells might also contribute in the creation of other tissues besides bone marrow: brain, liver, endothelial, epithelial and muscle cells have been shown to derive from haematopoietic stem cells in experimental models. This gave birth to a new branch of medical therapy the so called regenerative medicine. The first human clinical trials have been performed to repair myocardial damage via the infusion of haematopoietic stem cells. The first results are promising on one hand, and controversial on the other. It will be a long road to establish regenerative stem cell therapy in the daily routine of cardiology as was necessary in the field of haematology in the past few decades.