Are there different types of transplants?
There are two basic types of blood cell transplants. A transplant may use cells taken from a donor or from the patient: • If you have an autologous transplant, your own blood-forming cells are collected from your marrow or blood and frozen. You receive high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Then your cells are put back. Whether or not an autologous transplant is an option for you depends on your disease and other factors. Autologous transplants may be used to treat patients with diseases such as Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and some solid tumors. • If you have an allogeneic transplant, you get cells from a donor. The donor’s tissue type must suitably match yours. The donor can be either related or unrelated to you. Related donors are usually a brother or sister. If no matching family member is found, your doctor can search the National Marrow Donor Program’s Registry. The Registry lists more than 7 million potential donors and nearly 90,000 umbi
