Blood and marrow transplantation
is an important new therapy used in the treatment of certain types of cancer.
It is widely used in treating particular cancers involving the lymph system
and blood. Blood and marrow transplantation is increasingly being used
to improve treatment of certain recurring cancer, breast cancer, and other
solid tumors. It is also used to treat certain life-threatening immune
system disorders, metabolic diseases, and blood disorders.
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Bone marrow is the soft,
jelly-like substance found in the cavities of our bones. It serves the
essential function of producing all of the body's blood and immune
cells, including stems cells, which play a vital role in blood and marrow
transplantation, and are found in the blood, marrow, and lymphatic tissue.
Here is why blood and marrow
transplantation can be so important. As the dose of therapy increases,
the amount of cancer cells killed increases as well. If malignant diseases
are treated with very high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy
aimed at destroying cancer cells, that treatment also destroys the
normal blood-forming and immune-producing tissues in the body.
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Blood and marrow transplantation
restores these vital tissues and the functions they perform. Shortly after
the chemotherapy or radiation therapy, patients are given stem cells that
produce white and red blood cells as well as platelets and other cells.
Usually these cells have been collected from a bone in the hip. Sometimes,
stem cells are collected from the blood in a process called peripheral
blood stem cell transplant.
Stem cells can be harvested
from the person who will receive treatment before he or she receives high
dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This process is called autologous
stem cell transplantation. Or
the cells may come from a donor whose bone marrow closely matches
that of the patient. This procedure is called allogeneic
stem cell transplantation. Another procedure,
syngeneic
stem cell transplantation, involves transplanting stem cells harvested
from an identical twin.
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