For nearly all diseases treated by the BMT Program, active protocols are underway to further improve results. Ongoing improvements have decreased the toxicity and cost of BMT, improved the cure rate, and allowed selected BMT patients to be treated as in an intensive ambulatory clinic. We now routinely offer BMT to patients up to age 70. Johns Hopkins is dedicated to working with referring physicians and health insurers to provide the best. The patient's own marrow or peripheral blood is used.
Autologous transplants are the most commonly performed transplants.
There is the additional concern of tumor contamination of the transplant. This may be a relatively minor concern for certain solid tumors, but is a major problem for all blood cancers and some solid tumors. Allogeneic transplants have the lowest risk of tumor relapse because of the GVL effect. However, GVHD, graft failure, and immune deficiency are potential problems, especially with unrelated transplants. The donor is an identical twin of the patient.