What are the risks of bone marrow and stem cell transplantation?
The main risk occurs during the period when the marrow is recovering and is not yet able to produce normal blood cells. During this time there is a risk of potentially life-threatening infection and bleeding. Allogenic transplantation carries a higher risk, because of the possibility of graft versus host reactions. Very occasionally too, the graft (donated marrow) is not accepted (graft failure), and it may be necessary to have more bone marrow donated by the same donor, or resort to ‘autologous rescue’, which is using some of one’s own bone marrow which has been stored as a precaution. Autologous Transplants using one’s own marrow have a much lower risk, since graft versus host disease does not occur. With a stem cell transplant, the risks are still lower, a the time the marrow takes to recover (during which one is at most risk of infection) is reduced. However, the conditioning procedures for all forms of transplant are equally intensive. The age and state of health are also factors
