Pancreas and islet-cell transplantation. Potential cure for diabetes.

In the past two decades, results of whole-organ pancreas transplantation have improved considerably. Patient survival rates of 95% to 100% and graft success rates of more than 70% at 1 year have been reported. After successful transplantation, exogenous insulin can be discontinued and the patient's quality of life improved. In the field of islet-cell transplantation, remarkable progress has been made in isolation techniques. However, the problem of rejection without serious sequelae remains. Immunoisolation of islet cells in microcapsules offers an exciting solution, but research is still in preliminary stages. Early results in large animal models are extremely encouraging.