At a conference held in October 2005, participants presented studies on high dose immunosuppression with hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) for multiple sclerosis (MS), including neuroimmuno-logical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mechanistic approaches, clinical registry reports, and ongoing or newly-designed protocols. A discussion panel considered questions on how to define success, timing of controlled clinical trials, difficulty in patient recruitment, and future direction of high dose therapy.
Muraro PA , Douek DC , Packer A , Chung K , Guenaga FJ , Cassiani-Ingoni R , et al.Thymic output generates a new and diverse TCR repertoire after auto-logous stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis patients . J Exp Med2005; 201: 805-816 .
2.
Chen JT , Collins DL , Freedman MS , Atkins HL , Arnold DL.Local magnetization transfer ratio signal inhomogeneity is related to subsequent change in MTR in lesions and normal-appearing white-matter of multiple sclerosis patients . Neuroimage2005; 25: 1272-1278 .
3.
Freedman MS , Atkins HL , Theoret G.Immunablation followed by autologous stem cell transplantation as a treatment for aggressive multiple sclerosis: 3 year follow-up of the first 6 patients . Neurology2005; 64 (Suppl. 1): A393-A393 .
4.
Brodsky RA , Chen AR , Brodsky I , Jones RJ.High-dose cyclophosphamide as salvage therapy for severe aplastic anemia . Exp Hematol2004; 32: 435-440 .
5.
Griffith LM , Pavletic SZ , Tyndall A , Bredeson CN , Bowen JD , Childs RW , et al.Feasibility of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for autoimmune disease: position statement from a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Cancer Institute-sponsored international workshop, Bethesda, MD, 12-13 March, 2005 . Biol Blood Marrow Transplant2005; 11: 862-870 .
