Pioneering the Bone-marrow Transplant to Cure Leukemia

There was a time when a leukemia diagnosis was a death sentence. Chances of survival were little more than zero.

But thanks to a team of pioneering scientists led by Dr. E. Donnall Thomas at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, tens of thousands of leukemia patients now lead productive lives.

Laboring in the basement of temporary facilities in Seattle four decades ago, Thomas sought to do what others were convinced would never work. He ventured to cure leukemia and other cancers of the blood by destroying a patient's diseased bone marrow with near-lethal doses of radiation and chemotherapy and then rescuing the patient by transplanting healthy marrow. The goal: to establish a fully functioning and cancer-free blood and immune system.

Today, the success of bone-marrow transplantation stands among the world's most significant medical advances. The technique has transformed leukemia and related cancers, once thought incurable, into highly treatable diseases with survival rates as high as 90 percent.

A medical visionary, Thomas received the 1990 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for this lifesaving work.

More information

50th Anniversary celebration
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Thomas's CV
Publications/Bibliography
Nobel lecture: Bone Marrow Transplantation-Past, Present, and Future
Historical information about transplantation
Washington Business Magazine profile

Don Thomas has worked side-by-side with his wife Dottie throughout his career. Read about their partnership in the Don and Dottie story or watch a streaming media presentation recalling moments in their lives.

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E. Donnall Thomas' Legacy Watch a video about Dr. Thomas, Nobel prize winner and former head of the Clinical Research Division

	Thomas 50th Anniversary celebration
	Awards and Recognition
	Don and Dottie Thomas Story
	Dr. Thomas's CV
	Photos