Bone marrow transplant

 

Alternative Names

Transplant - bone marrow; Stem cell transplant; Hematopoietic stem cell transplant; Reduced intensity, nonmyeloablative transplant; Mini transplant; Allogenic bone marrow transplant; Autologous bone marrow transplant; Umbilical cord blood transplant

Definition

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells.

Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells.

Why the Procedure Is Performed

A bone marrow transplant replaces bone marrow that either is not working properly or has been destroyed (ablated) by chemotherapy or radiation. Doctors believe that for many cancers, the donor's white blood cells can attach to any remaining cancer cells, similar to when white cells attach to bacteria or viruses when fighting an infection.

Your doctor may recommend a bone marrow transplant if you have:

  • Certain cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma
  • A disease that affects the production of bone marrow cells, such as aplastic anemia, congenital neutropenia, severe immunodeficiency syndromes, sickle cell anemia, thalassemia  
  • Had chemotherapy that destroyed your bone marrow

Risks

A bone marrow transplant may cause the following symptoms:

  • Chest pain
  • Chills
  • Drop in blood pressure
  • Fever
  • Flushing
  • Funny taste in the mouth
  • Headache
  • Hives
  • Nausea
  • Pain
  • Shortness of breath

Possible complications of a bone marrow transplant depend on many things, including:

  • The disease you are being treated for
  • Whether you had chemotherapy or radiation before the bone marrow transplant and the dosages of such treatments 
  • Your age
  • Your overall health
  • How good of a match your donor was
  • The type of bone marrow transplant you received (autologous, allogeneic, or umbilical cord blood)

Complications can include:

  • Anemia
  • Bleeding in the lungs, intestines, brain, and other areas of the body
  • Cataracts
  • Clotting in the small veins of the liver
  • Damage to the kidneys, liver, lungs, and heart
  • Delayed growth in children who receive a bone marrow transplant
  • Early menopause
  • Graft failure, which means that the new cells do not settle into the body and start producing stem cells
  • Graft-versus-host disease, a condition in which the donor cells attack your own body
  • Infections, which can be very serious
  • Inflammation and soreness in the mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach, called mucositis
  • Pain
  • Stomach problems, including diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting

Before the Procedure

Your health care provider will ask about your medical history and do a physical exam. You will have many tests before treatment begins.

Before transplant, you will have one or two tubes, called catheters, inserted into a blood vessel in your neck or arms. This tube allows you to receive treatments, fluids, and sometimes nutrition.

Your doctor or nurse will likely discuss the emotional stress of having a bone marrow transplant. You may want to meet with a mental health counselor. It is important to talk to your family and children to help them understand what to expect.

You will need to make plans to help you prepare for the procedure and handle tasks after your transplant:

  • Complete an advance care directive
  • Arrange medical leave from work
  • Take care of bank or financial statements
  • Arrange care of pets
  • Arrange for someone to help with household chores
  • Confirm health insurance coverage
  • Pay bills
  • Arrange for care of your children
  • Find housing for yourself or your family near the hospital, if needed

After the Procedure

A bone marrow transplant is usually done in a hospital or medical center that specializes in such treatment. Most of the time, you stay in a special bone marrow transplant unit in the center. This is to limit your chance of getting an infection.

Depending on the treatment and where it is done, all or part of an autologous or allogeneic transplant may be done as an outpatient. This means you do not have to stay in the hospital overnight.

How long you stay in the hospital depends on how much chemotherapy or radiation you received, the type of transplant, and your medical center's procedures. While you are in the hospital, you will be isolated because of the increased risk of infection. The health care team will closely monitor your blood count and vital signs.

While you are in the hospital you may:

  • Receive medications to prevent or treat infections, including antibiotics, antifungals, and antiviral drugs
  • Need many blood transfusions
  • Be fed through a vein (IV) until you can eat by mouth and stomach side effects and mouth sores have gone away
  • Be given medications to prevent graft-versus-host disease

Outlook (Prognosis)

How well you do after transplant depends on:

  • The type of bone marrow transplant
  • How well the donor's cells match yours
  • What type of cancer or illness you have
  • Your age and overall health
  • The type and dosage of chemotherapy or radiation therapy you had before your transplant
  • Any complications you may have

A bone marrow transplant may completely or partially cure your illness. If the transplant is a success, you can go back to most of your normal activities as soon as you feel well enough. Usually it takes up to 1 year to recover fully.

Complications or failure of the bone marrow transplant can lead to death.

References

Bashir Q, Champlin R. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, et al., eds. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2013:chap 30.

Heslop HE. Overview of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In: Hoffman R, Benz EJ Jr, Silberstein LE, et al., eds. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2012:chap 104.

Review Date: 3/28/2014
Reviewed By: Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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