Considerations in the selection of an appropriate conditioning regimen for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is becoming more widely accepted as an investigational therapeutic modality for selected patients with severe autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, many aspects of the procedure remain controversial--not the least of these is the choice of conditioning regimen. This article briefly reviews the potential advantages and disadvantages of the conditioning regimens commonly employed for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases in order to facilitate the development of future clinical trials of HSCT for rheumatoid