Chemo-radiotherapy free conditioning regimen: immunotoxin at its magical best

In the June, 2016 issue of Nature Biotechnology, Palchaudhury and colleagues report a novel immunotoxin-based preparative regimen that efficiently conditions immunocompetent mice for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (1). In comparison with total body irradiation (TBI), there was equivalent endogenous HSC depletion with similar donor chimerism, avoided neutropenia and anemia, enabled rapid immune reconstitution, better preservation of bone marrow architecture and had minimal overall toxicity.