Hematopoietic cell transplantation for autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases may or may not have defined antigenic targets and may involve single or multiple organs. Although most autoimmune diseases can be effectively managed even if not cured, some autoimmune diseases may be refractory to conventional treatments and become life-threatening or cause critical organs to fail. This then would be the candidate population for consideration of a more aggressive approach requiring autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The clinical trials of HCT for autoimmune disease were started more than a decade ago and were based on successful preclinical studies. Preclinical studies of autologous and allogeneic HCT for autoimmune diseases have been reviewed and will not be discussed further [1,2].