Five years ago (in September, 2003), the activity of the 5th Haemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Centre of Hungary has begun. This centre has been registered as No 648. by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation-Centres.
Aims: To supply the needs of stem cell transplantation regions in north-east Hungary and to develop an active co-operation with the Hungarian and international centres.
Methods: Transplantations were made according to international criteria.
Results: 150 autologous stem cell transplantations has been performed so far, including 74 patients with myeloma multiplex, 43 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 27 patients with Hodgkin's disease, 4 patients with autoimmune disease, and one patient with leiomyosarcoma. The survival rates were similar to the previous Hungarian and international data. The centre played a role in other activities using stem cell therapy at the University of Debrecen (dendritic cell vaccine program, stem cell therapy in myocardial infarction, stem cell therapy in peripheral arterial- and autoimmune diseases). This centre performed the largest quantity of the conditioning protocol Zevalin, Bischloronitrosourea, Etoposide, cytosine-Arabinoside, Melphalan in non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Hungary; ten patients were treated with this protocol.