What does bone marrow transplant mean?
A transplant basically destroys the bone marrow in an attempt to kill all of the leukemia cells. The dosages of chemotherapy and radiation used in conditioning for transplant would literally kill the patient if the patient was not rescued by the donor’s bone marrow. In addition, the donor cells often stimulate a “graft vs leukemia” effect so that the donor cells see the leukemia cells as foreign invaders and attack and kill them. What about chemotherapy? If the patient is not to undergo a transplant, the dosage of chemotherapy is not lethal. The treatment usually lasts about two years. Some facts Transplant means a higher cure rate and a shorter treatment time. But: the chemotherapy/radiation treatment incurs a lot more toxicity, more treatment-related mortality, increased possibility of long term effects (for instance, chronic GVHD, sterility, growth inteference, late neurocognitive effects). Chemotherapy or chemotherapy/radiation (without transplant) means a slightly lower cure rate
