Stem Cell Treatment for Crohn's

In skimming through some of the forums on CCFA.org, I saw someone mention a treatment option involving stem cells. A quick Google search revealed this article. Researchers in Barcelona, Italy, and the US have treated a handful of patients with promising results - with 80% achieving remission after being followed for 6 years after their treatment. The basic idea is to "reset" your immune system by 1) destroying all of your leukocyte cells (i.e. immune-system cells) via chemotherapy so that you can then 2) replace them all via a stem cell transplant. The premise is that the leukocyte cells you currently have are not working properly - i.e. they are incorrectly attacking microflora in your gut causing inflammation - and hence you need to get rid of all of them and re-build all your immune cells from scratch.

From the article it sounds like they only try this on patients that don't respond to medication or surgery, so it's kind of a last resort. And from the sound of it, it really should be. Sounds extreme.