Frequently Asked Questions on Bone Marrow Transplant (Stem Cell Therapy) 

Dr.Roshan Dikshit, 4 mins read

The field of bone marrow transplants has seen tremendous development and success and over the past few years, it has come to be recognized as a viable alternative treatment option for several blood disorders and cancers of various kinds. However, most people are not familiar with this still novel life-saving treatment, as it is a highly specialized segment of treatment that is gradually phasing itself into medical infrastructure in India. You may have a lot of questions that need answering, like “what is the success rate of bone marrow transplants?” or “what is the average life expectancy after a bone marrow transplant?” among others, read on to know more about these and other frequently asked questions about bone marrow transplants.

What is a Bone Marrow Transplant?

Also known as BMT, a bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure that seeks to replace defective cells with new healthy ones in the bone marrow. These healthy substitute cells can be taken from the patient’s body or a donor. The new healthy blood-forming cells are called stem cells, and that is why bone marrow transplants are also called stem cell transplants. Individuals need bone marrow transplants when their bone marrow doesn’t function any longer or doesn’t produce enough new healthy blood cells.

What are the different types of bone marrow transplants? 

The type of bone marrow transplant is determined by where the new stem cells are sourced from; whether the new cells are a patient's stem cells or sourced 

 from a donor- an individual who willingly donates part of their body to help cure or treat someone else’s medical condition.

There are two types of bone marrow transplants. They are:

1. Autologous transplant – This is referred to as the transplantation of Autologous Tissue- the patient’s tissue. The patient's stem cells will be extracted by performing a bone marrow harvest which is technically called“apheresis”, of a person’s peripheral blood stem cells, which are harvested and returned afterward to the patient after all relevant treatment is done. 
2. Allogenic Transplant - Herein, both patient and donor have the same matching HLA (human leukocyte antigen) type. In most cases, HLA-matched donors are either siblings; brothers, or sisters, and they donate or provide their stem cells via a bone marrow harvest or apheresis of peripheral blood stem cells. 

Who can become a donor for bone marrow transplants? 

With the current technology available, there are only certain types of people who are eligible for becoming allogeneic bone marrow donors. 

Some of them include twins, more specifically identical twins, who are a perfect genetic match, and an allogeneic transplant where an identical twin is the donor is called a syngeneic transplant. 

There are also unrelated transplants for donors that match but are not immediate relatives. For carrying out this kind of transplant, HLA-matched stem cells need to be produced from a distant relative or even a completely unrelated donor, who can come by way of National registers. 

The last group is the umbilical cord blood transplant, where stem cells are extracted from an infant's umbilical cord after birth. The stem cells can then be assessed, examined, classified, tagged, and stored for future use, and when someone needs stem cells, these can be taken out and used for the transplant.  

Why will a bone marrow transplant be needed? 

Bone marrow transplants may be needed for several reasons. Patients who have diseases like Thalassemia Sickle Cell Disease and many other genetic diseases have a gene that is missing, and it needs to be replaced. These medical conditions don’t mean an individual is sick in general, save for the one defective missing gene, which can be replaced to cure these diseases that were incurable till recently. 

Bone marrow transplants can be of great help to cancer patients as new stem cells can make for more usage or higher dosage of anti-cancer drugs, which can sometimes cause bone marrow loss. Without stem cell therapy, bone marrow usually will take quite a while to fully recover, which can lead to potential complications and a higher risk of infections or bleeding. New stem cells heal blood cells quickly, and also reduce the risk of low blood counts that are by marrow suppression. Think of it as a support therapy rather than cancer treatment, it’s there to reverse the side effects of cancer treatment. Both both autologous (self) and allogeneic (third-party) transplants can be used for this. 

What is the success rate of bone marrow transplants? 

The life expectancy and quality of life post-BMT have greatly improved owing to better, more accurate genetic matching procedures with donors, effective antibiotics which will help control infections post the procedure, and improved post-transplant care.

Patients with nonmalignant diseases have a much better chance of a success rate between 70% to 90 % survival (with a matched sibling donor) and 40% to 70% (unrelated donors). Patients with leukemia in remission have around 60% to 70% with related donors and 40% to 50% if unrelated.

What age is ideal for getting a bone marrow transplant? 

People may need bone marrow transplants for different reasons at different times in their life, and there’s no fixed age for the procedure. At Aakash Healthcare, our doctors will ensure the overall health of patients is good enough to go through with the procedure.

What is the survival rate of bone marrow transplants? 

The procedure is extremely safe and will be performed under the most controlled conditions, but the chances of survival as mentioned above, depend on several other factors.

How long will I need to stay in the hospital? 

Patients need to spend around 3 weeks for an autologous stem cell transplant, and roughly 3- 4 weeks or so for an allogeneic stem cell transplant. We have world-class private rooms, highly sanitized to keep your environment and you protected, with all essential amenities alongside.

Also, Read: Understanding Bone Marrow Transplant