In children, radiation may inhibit growth and damage sexual development. Total body radiation results in sterility. The prognosis without treatment, however, is in most cases quick and premature death. The outcome of bone marrow transplantation depends on many factors. Therefore, studies of the results are often difficult to assess.
Children have a better prognosis than adults.
If unrelated donors are used, mismatched transplantation, the results are significantly worse than if sibling donors are used. The results are better for non malignant blood disorders, where aplastic anemia constitutes the largest group. Studies which compare bone marrow transplantation with conventional chemotherapy are few and contradictory, therefore more studies are needed. A great need also exists for studies which compare the results from autologous bone marrow transplantation with allogenic. Many such comparative studies are under way in various places, for example, through the so called Mid-Sweden Leukemia Group.