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The world's first bone marrow transplant
Dr. John Kersey in 1978 with three members of his bone marrow transplant team.
Thirty years ago, doctors at the University of Minnesota inserted a syringe into David Stahl, a 16-year-old suffering from advanced lymphoma, and injected him with disease-fighting bone marrow donated by his little brother. The procedure (along with chemotherapy) saved the teenager's life and was recorded in history as the world's first successful bone marrow transplant for cancer. Stahl is one of many who have received a new lease on life at the University, where transplant pioneers have performed the world's first pancreas transplant, the first intestinal transplant and more than 7,000 kidney transplants, among many other medical milestones. Stahl's family was willing to try the experimental procedure because his prognosis was so grim. Doctors who discovered the grapefruit-sized tumor in his stomach said he had just a 5 percent chance of survival using the standard treatments available in 1975 for lymphoma, which attacks the body's immune system. Dr. John Kersey, director of the University's Cancer Center, decided that a transplant was Stahl's best chance. Dr. Kersey believed that clean marrow would give his patient a new, rejuvenated immune system capable of fighting the tumor. First, Stahl's own diseased marrow was effectively killed off through a course of radiation. Then the transplant from his brother, a perfect match, was carried out. Today, bone marrow transplants like the one performed on Stahl are a standard treatment for people with lymphoma and many other forms of cancer, and have saved thousands of lives. Another lasting impact of Kersey's innovative procedure was that it spurred research into stem cells, the building blocks of the human body. While it wasn't clearly understood at the time, stem cells enable transplant patients to regenerate healthy tissue -- and they may hold the key for treating terminal illnesses like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. David Stahl recovered from his own "incurable" disease and today is a 46-year-old golfer, fisherman and father living in Golden Valley, Minn. Further reading UMNnews: 30 years of hope: U marks 30th anniversary of first successful bone marrow transplant The Transplant Center: milestones University of Minnesota Cancer Center U of M Cancer Center director receives lifetime achievement award for pioneering work in childhood leukemia
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