What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant / Stem Cell Transplant?
A bone marrow transplant is a powerful treatment that offers options for patients with many different diseases. Bone marrow transplants refer to the process of taking sick or diseased bone marrow — caused by disease or high-dose chemotherapy — and replacing it with healthy bone marrow, so that the bone marrow recipient has the infection-fighting cells the body needs to stay healthy. Bone marrow transplants are given to help patients withstand high doses of chemotherapy. They are also given to help boost a patient’s immune system in its fight against cancer. Usually this procedure involves a donor (a procedure called allogeneic). But some patients can actually make their own cell donation to fight disease (autologous). Historically, we extracted cells directly from the bone. With recent advances in technology, we are able to harvest stem cells from the blood, making the procedure easier and safer.
