Bone Marrow Transplantation

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Background Info? Bone marrow transplantation restores stem cells that were destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. After being treated with high-dose anticancer drugs and/or radiation, the patient receives the harvested stem cells, which travel to the bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells. Bone marrow is the soft, sponge-like material found inside bones. It contains immature cells known as hematopoietic or blood-forming stem cells. Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells, which fight infections, and platelets, which help the to blood clot.It is used to treat diseases such as leukemia, anemia, and multiple myeloma.Before you have a transplant, you need to get high doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation. This destroys the faulty stem cells in your bone marrow. It also suppresses your body's immune system so that it won't attack the new stem cells after the transplant. How is it used/benefits? Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) restores stem cells that have been destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. One reason BMT is used in cancer treatment is to make it possible for patients to receive very high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy generally affect cells that divide rapidly. They are used to treat cancer because cancer cells divide more often than most healthy cells. However, because bone marrow cells also divide frequently, high-dose treatments can severely damage or destroy the patient’s bone marrow. Without hea... ... middle of paper ... ... such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, mouth sores, hair loss, and skin reactions. Potential long-term risks include complications of the pretransplant chemotherapy and radiation therapy, such as infertility (the inability to produce children); cataracts (clouding of the lens of the eye, which causes loss of vision); secondary (new) cancers; and damage to the liver, kidneys,lungs, and/or heart. You can easily get infections after the transplant because your immune system is weak. The risk of infections decreases as your immune system recovers. Transplant recipients sometimes are given vaccines to prevent viruses and infections, such as the flu and pneumonia. If you develop an infection, your doctor will prescribe medicine to treat it. GVHD is a common complication for people who get stem cells from a donor. In GVHD, the new stem cells attack your body.

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