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What happens when you get a bone marrow transplant?
A bone marrow transplant takes a donor’s healthy blood-forming cells and puts them into the patient’s bloodstream, where they begin to grow and make healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Patients receive high doses of chemotherapy to prepare their body for the transplant.
Why would someone need a bone marrow transplant?
The goal of a bone marrow transplant is to cure many diseases and types of cancer. When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a person’s bone marrow stem cells will be permanently damaged or destroyed by the treatment, a bone marrow transplant may be needed.
Can a person live without a bone marrow?
In a transplant operation, the person receiving the marrow (recipient) is treated with a high dose of chemotherapy or radiotherapy to destroy their diseased cells. The donor’s bone marrow cells are then injected into a vein, just like a blood transfusion. The donor marrow finds the bones and settles into the cavities.
How long can you live after bone marrow transplant?
Some 62\% of BMT patients survived at least 365 days, and of those surviving 365 days, 89\% survived at least another 365 days. Of the patients who survived 6 years post-BMT, 98.5\% survived at least another year.
Can bone marrow be cured?
A bone marrow or cord blood transplant may be the best treatment option or the only potential for a cure for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and many other diseases. As the science of transplant continues to advance, new diseases are being treated with transplant.
What risks are involved in a bone marrow transplantation?
Graft-versus-host disease (allogeneic transplant only)
Does bone marrow transplant actually cure cancer?
Stem cell transplants — from bone marrow or other sources — can be an effective treatment for people with certain forms of cancer, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Stem cell transplants are also used for multiple myeloma and neuroblastoma, and they’re being studied as a treatment for other cancers, too.
How does a bone marrow transplant affect your blood type?
The HSC found in the bone marrow will make new blood cells throughout your lifespan. A bone marrow transplant replaces your damaged stem cells with healthy cells. This helps your body make enough white blood cells, platelets, or red blood cells to avoid infections, bleeding disorders, or anemia.
How long does it take to recover from bone marrow?
Recovery from bone marrow and PBSC donation. Marrow and PBSC donors should expect to return to work, school and most other activities within 1 to 7 days. Your marrow will return to normal levels within a few weeks.