Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT)

Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT)

Bone marrow transplantation is a procedure by which certain illnesses and cancers may be cured. Bone marrow itself is the organ in charge of producing blood. This method was initially used in treatment of patients with severe bone marrow dysfunction. The goal was to replace the diseased marrow with healthy bone marrow. Initially, bone marrow transplants were performed in identical twins because the genetic makeup of twins is the same.

In certain conditions and cancers, the purpose of transplant is to actually produce a healthy bone marrow in patients. These conditions are:

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia

• Acute Lymphoid Leukemia

• Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

• Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia

• Lymphomas that also involve the bone marrow

• Donor refers to the healthy person who donates the bone marrow.

• Recipient refers to the ill person receiving the bone marrow.

• Bone marrow cells are given intravenously, like giving a blood transfusion.

There are different types of transplantation. The type of transplantation depends solely on the donor and method of obtaining the bone marrow cells.

• Autologous, using patient's own bone marrow

• Allogeneic, using bone marrow from a sibling (brother, sister)

• Syngeneic, using bone marrow from an identical twin

• Unrelated, using marrow from a stranger with similar genetic makeup

Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation: Allogeneic BMTs are used most frequently to treat patients with leukemia, aplastic anemia and immune deficiency diseases, where the bone marrow itself is sick and needs to be replaced. Patients are treated with very high doses of chemotherapy (with or without radiation). This treatment destroys the sick bone marrow, after which the normal marrow is obtained from the donor and given to the patient.

Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation: Autologous BMT is commonly used in treatment of certain patients with breast cancer, leukemias, lymphomas, etc. The goal of this treatment is to destroy the cancer cells. The bone marrow cells are obtained and frozen, and patients are then treated with very high doses of chemotherapy. The frozen bone marrow is then thawed and returned to the patient.

Unrelated Bone Marrow Transplantation: Two-thirds of patients requiring an Allogeneic BMT do not have a matching bone marrow donor. This is due to genetic differences between siblings. Although a sibling is the preferred bone marrow donor, not every patient has a brother or sister with "matching" bone marrow. For this reason, transplants using unrelated donors are performed. There is a National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) in the United States and in many other countries which is attempting to expand the international registry of volunteers who donate their marrow to those in need of such treatment.

• Indications for Bone Marrow Transplantation

• Process of Transplantation