Why Use Bone Marrow Transplant for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is usually treated by destroying the cancerous cells using aggressive chemotherapy techniques. However, this therapy can damage the bone marrow of the patient. Bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells which give rise to components of blood including red and white blood cells and platelets. Chemotherapy can leave non-Hodgkins lymphoma patients unable to manufacture sufficient new blood components in order to aid their recovery. To enable the patient to recover well from their course of chemotherapy, doctors may decide to harvest healthy bone marrow prior to the treatment and replace it after the chemotherapy is complete. This is known as an autologous transplant, meaning the patient receives a graft of their own body tissue.
