The use of cells for the treatment of a variety of diseases is no longer a dream. Today blood
transfusion bone marrow transplantation the use of ex vivo cultured skin in wound healing
and peripheral stern cell transplantation including the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic
stern cells after high-dose chemo radiation therapy are routine. This high standard of
knowledge and skills in cell transplantation might also re sult in tackling hitherto
untreatable diseases. Organ transplantation is presently the only life-saving treatment for a
variety of conditions. Important findings in cell and molecular biol ogy the identification of
hematopoietic mesenchymal and neuronal stern cells together with breakthroughs in the
methodology for isolat ing purifying expanding and storing human cells could make cellular
therapy an alternative to organ transplantation in certain diseases within the next decade.
Placental blood may be the source of choice in isolating naive progenitor cells for allogeneic
transplantation. Immunotherapy is the most hopeful strategy to date for the treat ment of
tumors resistant to chemotherapy radiation therapy or hor mone therapy. It includes the use
of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes ex vivo activated memory T lymphocytes and cell-based
vaccines.
