The activity of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Korea.

Since the first successful allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) was performed in Korea in 1983, there has been a noticeable progress in both the quantity and quality of HSCT over 24 years. There are 38 HSCT centers in Korea and the number of both allogeneic and autologous HSCTs has been increasing every year. As of December 2006, a total of 9561 HSCTs have been carried out in Korea, including 5617 allogeneic (59%) and 3944 autologous HSCTs (41%). The main indications were acute leukemia (3979, 78% allogeneic); lymphoma (1244, 90% autologous); myeloma (939, 92% autologous) and aplastic anemia (938). Characteristically, severe aplastic anemia accounts for a considerable proportion of transplants (10%), compared with western countries. Recently, there has been a marked increase in the number of unrelated transplants and the usage of PBSCs. The pattern of infectious diseases associated with HSCT is quite different. The rapid expansion of unrelated donor pools worldwide has changed the outlook of an unrelated donor search in Korea.