Stem cell and bone marrow transplantations are types of intensive treatment used to treat certain cancers, particularly leukaemias and lymphomas, some other cancers and also some non-cancerous diseases of the bone marrow. Transplants are a way of allowing much higher doses of chemotherapy to be given, to improve the chances of completely curing the disease. Transplants need to be carried out by specialist teams at specialised cancer treatment centres. If you do have a transplant, you may have to be treated in a hospital some distance from your home. Not everyone with cancer will be suitable for a transplant or rescue or would benefit from one.
Bone marrow is found inside the bones, particularly the pelvic bones.
Stem cells are blood cells at their very earliest stage of development in the bone marrow, before they have become committed to developing into white cells, red cells or platelets. They can then be collected directly from the blood. This is usually done by giving doses of chemotherapy drugs , which will damp down bone marrow activity and temporarily reduce the number of stem cells in the bone marrow. When the bone marrow is recovering from the chemotherapy, the stem cells rapidly increase. This process is encouraged by the injection of special proteins called growth factors, and when the stem cells spill over they can be collected from the blood rather than the bone marrow.