More recently, bone marrow transplantation has been used to treat patients with multiple myeloma . Although many patients with this disease are past the age at which bone marrow transplantation is usually attempted, there are still many who might benefit from the treatment. The results aren't conclusive, but it appears that both allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation can bring about complete remissions in some multiple myeloma patients.
Solid Tumors in Adults Bone marrow transplantation has been used in a wide variety of so-called solid tumors—carcinomas and sarcomas—in adults. It can cure some men with advanced testicular cancer, for example, a predictable result given the extraordinary responsiveness of testicular cancer to chemotherapy . A small number of patients with soft tissue sarcomas have also had long remissions after high-dose therapy and a bone marrow transplant.
Unfortunately, many common solid tumors such as lung cancers and gastrointestinal cancers aren't sensitive enough to high-dose chemotherapy and radiation to make the bone marrow procedure beneficial.
One of the most common carcinomas in the United States—breast cancer—is reasonably sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy . Recent clinical trials with high-dose therapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation suggest that increased doses of drugs active against breast cancer can dramatically increase the response rate. Some women have had complete remissions and some of these remissions have lasted several years. It will be a while before long-term results on large numbers of patients are available. Yet investigators are
