Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT)

A procedure in which healthy stem cells from a donors bone marrow are injected into a recipients vein. The new cells travel through the bloodstream to the recipients bone cavities (stem cells are cells that can produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets).

Bone marrow transplantation may be performed using bone marrow from a donor, called allogeneic transplant, or using stored bone marrow from the recipient, called autologous transplant.

Donor: Hip bone

Recipient: Blood stream, bone marrow

To replace a malfunctioning or deficient bone marrow, which may be necessary in these situations:

• Infection
• Cancer (leukemia, lymphoma)
• Cancer treatment (chemotherapy and/or radiation)
• Immunodeficiency disorders
• Severe anemia (such as aplastic anemia)
• Blood disorders (such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia)

The risk for complications increases as the recipients age increases, and in cases where the recipient is severely debilitated.

Bone marrow transplant is usually avoided in people with diseases of the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys, or in people with diabetes.

Prior to Procedure - The donor will be carefully tested to check for communicable disease. Both the donor and the recipient will be tested to insure that their tissues are compatible. In order for bone marrow transplant to be successful, certain markers (called HLA types) on the donors and recipients blood cells and bone marrow cells must match.

The recipient will be given medications to suppress the immune system, and therefore prevent the body from rejecting the donor bone marrow. In the weeks prior to the bone marrow transplant, the recipient may undergo intense chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to rid the body of diseased cells and to clear the bone marrow cavities for the new bone marrow. This process is called "conditioning."

During Procedure

It may take about a month for the donor bone marrow to begin functioning fully within the recipient. If the transplant is successful, diseased cells will have been removed during pre-treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation, and new bone marrow cells will produce healthy red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.