Who Needs a Blood Stem Cell Transplant?
Sometimes, the stem cells in the bone marrow malfunction and produce too many defective or immature blood cells. These abnormal cells are cancer cells that can interfere with the production of normal blood cells and may invade other tissues. In other cases, the blood stem cells do not produce enough blood cells.
A blood stem cell transplant is used most often to treat patients with:
- multiple myeloma
- leukemia
- non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
- myeloproliferative disorders such as myelofibrosis
- severe aplastic anemia
A blood stem cell transplant can also be a treatment option for patients with:
- a genetic or inherited disorder, such as thalassemia
- an immune deficiency disease, such as Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome or SCIDS
- a solid tumor, such as neuroblastoma
- an autoimmune disease, such as multiple sclerosis
Not all patients with these diseases require a transplant. Blood stem cell transplants are usually reserved for patients who:
- have a high risk of relapsing (the disease comes back) after less intensive treatment
- have already relapsed
- whose quality of life can be improved by a blood stem cell transplant
