What is Bone Marrow Transplant?
A bone marrow transplant is a step to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. The bone marrow produces blood cells. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your different blood cells. Before the transplant, chemotherapy, radiation, or both may be given to the patient. This may be done in two ways:
- Ablative (myeloablative) treatment — High-dose chemotherapy, radiation, or both are given to kill any cancer cells. This also kills all healthy bone marrow that remains, and allows new stem cells to grow in the bone marrow.
- Reduced intensity treatment, also called a mini transplant — Lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation are given before a transplant. This allows older people, and those with other health problems to have a transplant.
Who needs a bone marrow transplant?
Doctors use bone marrow transplants to treat people with a range of malignant and non-malignant diseases, including these:
- Acute leukemia
- Aplastic Anemia
- Thalassemia
- Sickle Cell Anemia
- Pediatric Cancerous like neuroblastomas
- Pediatric Immunodeficiencies
- Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Aplastic anemia
- Bone marrow failure syndromes
- Chronic leukemia
- Hemoglobinopathies
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Immune deficiencies
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Multiple myeloma
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Neuroblastoma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Plasma cell disorders
- POEMS syndrome
- Primary amyloidosis
What are the common complications & Risks which can arise with a Bone Marrow Transplant?
A bone marrow transplant poses numerous risks. Some people experience minimal problems with a bone marrow transplant, while others can have serious complications that require treatment or hospitalization. Sometimes, complications are life-threatening.
Possible complications from a bone marrow transplant include:
- Graft-versus-host disease (allogeneic transplant only)
- Stem cell (transplant) failure.
- Organ damage.
- Infections
- Cataracts
- Infertility
- New cancers
- Death
What is the Success Rates of Bone Marrow Transplant?
Bone marrow transplant (BMT) has a predictable survival rate of nearly more than 60 percent. Every bone marrow transplant (BMT) case survival varies depending upon the type of transplant chosen like allogeneic or autologous. Even the complete replacement or removal of diseases marrow cells is not enough sometimes although it does efficiently work in most of the cases of transplant. The success and survival rates of any bone marrow transplant (BMT) depends greatly on patient’s condition and requirement. Bone marrow transplant (BMT) does cure some of the diseases and helps in extending life and improves the quality of life as well. But in some rare cases treating one disease leads to remission of another during or after the treatment. But those risks and complications and their chances can be discussed with a specialized doctor before undergoing a bone marrow transplant (BMT).
How long Patient lives or survive after a bone marrow transplant?
People undergoing a bone marrow transplant (BMT) in India have a good survival rate. India has emerged as a global hub for several affordable but highly effective treatments. So any treatment in India including a bone marrow transplant (BMT) does have a good survival rate like in any other standard developed country but they charge too much unlike Indian economic . Several statistical data has been accumulated to date to support good survival rates offered by Indian BMT done for several diseases and age group patients. A relevant data states that nearly 30% to 40% of above 60 age group patients do survive more than 3 years after BMT done in India. The survival chances increase if younger is the patient age who are being treated and early is the diagnosis stage of the disease. Further, no reoccurrence until 2 years after BMT, even improves the chances of disease-free and longer survival -).
How long Time It takes in Recovery after Transplant ?
- The doctor will continue to check the blood each day to determine how well the transplant has worked. They will test whether new cells are beginning to grow in bone marrow.
- If a person’s white blood cell count starts to rise, it indicates that the body is starting to create its own blood, indicating that the transplant has been successful.
- It’s usually about 2 to 6 weeks.
What are the common complications that people who receive bone marrow transplants experience ?
- Infections
- Nausea, Vomiting, or Both
- Diarrhea
- Mucositis, which involves inflammation and soreness in the throat, mouth, and stomach
- Graft failure, in which the transplanted cells do not produce new blood cells
- Anemia
- Early onset menopause
- Infertility
- Cataracts
- Organ damage
- Graft-versus-host disease, in which the donor cells attack the person’s body
- Bleeding in the brain, lungs, or other organs
Some people die as a result of complications from bone marrow transplants.
A person who receives a bone marrow transplant may also experience reactions that can follow any medical procedure, including:
- Shortness of breath
- A drop in blood pressure
- Headaches
- Pain
- A fever
- Chills