A Brief History of Advances in Thalassemia Treatment

In this brief journey through history, we will provide insights—and in some cases, interesting facts—about the key figures and discoveries that have progressively led to a radical shift in the approach to treating thalassemia patients over the past 150 years. This story is divided into four chapters:

• Chapter 1: The Era of Disease Discovery (1739–1962)
• Chapter 2: The Era of Subcutaneous Chelation and the DNA Diagnostic Revolution
• Chapter 3: The Era of Oral Chelation and Cellular Approaches to Thalassemia Therapy
• Chapter 4: The Era of Advanced Therapies for Thalassemia Cure

This chronological division—although somewhat arbitrary—is based on the introduction of iron chelators, which have been the cornerstone of thalassemia treatment, up until the expiration of the deferasirox patent. We hope you find this journey both engaging and insightful. If you have any additional information or interesting anecdotes to share, feel free to send them to garden.network@fondazionecutino.it—we would be delighted to enrich our collective history with your contributions. Happy reading, Aurelio Maggio