What is the process of bone marrow transplant?
There are three kinds of bone marrow transplants: * Autologous bone marrow transplant. “Auto” means “self.” Stem cells are taken from the patient before the patient gets chemotherapy or radiation treatment. When chemotherapy or radiation is done, the patient gets their stem cells back. This is called a “rescue” transplant. * Allogeneic bone marrow transplant. “Allo” means “other.” Stem cells come from another person, who is called a donor. Donor stem cells come from the donor’s bone marrow or their blood. Most times, a donor must have the same genetic typing as the patient, so that their blood “matches” the patient’s. Special blood tests will tell whether a possible donor is a good match for the patient. A patient’s brothers and sisters have the highest chance of being a good match. But, sometimes parents and children of the patient and other relatives may be matches. Donors who are not related to the patient may be found through national bone marrow registries. These are lists of peop
