Each person is an individual whose body may react to cancer and its treatment in ways completely different from the average patient. Most people who undergo bone marrow transplantation have a cancer, such as leukemia or breast cancer. To eliminate the cancer, very high doses of chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation therapy, are given. However, these treatments damage bone marrow, which is vital to producing blood. To restore normal function after these treatments, bone marrow is transplanted into the patient.
Patient survival following bone marrow transplantation depends on a variety of factors.
The first is surviving the period immediately following the transplant. During this period, infections, bleeding and other complications can develop before the transplanted marrow cells begin to grow. This occurs when the donor's marrow recognizes your system as foreign and the donor white cells attack your immune system. After this critical period immediately following the transplant, survival depends largely on whether the cancer recurs. Many factors influence recurrence, including the type of cancer and how advanced it is when first diagnosed, as well as a person's age and overall health status.