They are immature, undifferentiated cells that have the capacity to reproduce themselves or differentiate in order to produce all the different cells that make up the blood and immune systems. Stem cell selection is a process that purifies the cells used in bone marrow and peripheral blood transplantation. These transplantation procedures are used to restore the blood and immune systems of cancer patients following high-dose chemotherapy. Stem cell selection may be used in the treatment of various types of cancer, including breast cancer, childhood cancers, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma. It may also be used to treat autoimmune, metabolic and genetic diseases.
Many cancer patients rely on chemotherapy to attack and destroy their proliferating cancer cells.
When patients receive high-dose chemotherapy, their stem cells may actually be destroyed. Such patients typically undergo either bone marrow or peripheral blood transplantation. Stem cell selection refines bone marrow or peripheral blood transplantation by allowing doctors to separate the patient's healthy stem cells from unwanted cells in the bone marrow or blood sample. This highly purified sample is then reinfused into the patient. Clinicians hope this reduced contamination may improve long-term disease survival rates in patients.