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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffStem cell transplants are used to treat people whose stem cells have been damaged by disease or the treatment of a disease. Stem cell transplants can benefit people with a variety of both cancerous (malignant) and noncancerous (nonmalignant) diseases.
A stem cell transplant may help your body:
- Replace dysfunctional bone marrow. For instance, in aplastic anemia, a noncancerous condition, your bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. A stem cell transplant procedure first destroys the dysfunctional marrow with powerful drugs or radiation, and then healthy stem cells are infused. If all goes well, the new stem cells migrate to the marrow and begin working normally.
- Destroy unhealthy bone marrow that may contain cancer cells. In the case of cancer, such as leukemia, a stem cell transplant procedure may first help rid the bone marrow of cancer cells. When healthy stem cells are then transplanted, normal cell production can resume. In addition, immune factors in the transplanted cells may help destroy any cancer cells that remain in your bone marrow.
References
- Bone marrow transplantation and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/bone-marrow-transplant/. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- Blood and marrow stem cell transplantation. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/attachments/National/br_1203086953.pdf. Accessed March 12, 2010.
- Aplastic anemia. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/aplastic/aplastic_all.html. Accessed March 12, 2010.
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