A bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure performed to replace bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by disease, infection, or chemotherapy. This procedure involves transplanting blood stem cells, which travel to the bone marrow where they produce new blood cells and promote growth of new marrow. Bone marrow transplants can benefit people with a variety of both cancerous (malignant) and noncancerous (benign) diseases, including:
- Acute leukemia
- Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Aplastic anemia
- Bone marrow failure syndromes
- Chronic leukemia
- Hemoglobinopathies
- Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Immune deficiencies
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Multiple myeloma
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Neuroblastoma
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Plasma cell disorders
- POEMS syndrome
- Primary amyloidosis
There are two major types of bone marrow transplants:
1. Autologous Transplants: Autologous transplants involve the use of a person’s own stem cells. Using cells from your own body during your stem cell transplant offers some advantages over stem cells from a donor. For example, you don't need to worry about incompatibility between the donor's cells and your own cells if you have an autologous stem cell transplant. An autologous stem cell transplant might be an option if your body is producing enough healthy bone marrow cells. Those cells can be collected, frozen and stored for later use.
If a transplant using your own stem cells (autologous transplant) is planned, you'll undergo a procedure called apheresis (af-uh-REE-sis) to collect blood stem cells. During apheresis, blood is drawn from a vein and circulated through a machine. The machine separates your blood into different parts, including stem cells. These stem cells are collected and frozen for future use in the transplant. The remaining blood is returned to your body.
2. Allogeneic Transplants: Allogeneic transplants involve the use of cells from a donor. A donor may be a family member, an acquaintance or someone you don't know. The blood stem cells used in an allogeneic stem cell transplant can be:
- Collected from the donor's blood
- Collected from the bone marrow within a donor's hipbone
- Collected from the blood of a donated umbilical cord
If you're having a transplant using stem cells from a donor (allogeneic transplant), you will need a donor. Once a donor is found, stem cells are gathered from that person for the transplant.Stem cells can come from your donor's blood or bone marrow. Your transplant team decides which is better for you based on your situation.
Another type of allogeneic transplant uses stem cells from the blood of umbilical cords (cord blood transplant). Mothers can choose to donate umbilical cords after their babies' births. The blood from these cords is frozen and stored in a cord blood bank until needed for a bone marrow transplant.
Every examination and operation related to the disease should be performed by a properly equipped hospital with the latest medical technology and professional academic medical staff. The Turkish Health Group will definitely direct you to the hospitals with the most modern medical equipment and professional medical staff related to your disease. Contact us for more information and a free second medical reference from a professional Turkish doctors.