Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation restores the body's ability to make blood cells after high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy has destroyed the bone marrow. Stem cells given by intravenous infusion settle in the marrow and mature into red cells, white cells, and platelets. The method is used mainly in blood cancers — leukemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes — and in children also in selected solid tumors such as neuroblastoma. Depending on the source of the cells, a transplant is autologous (the patient's own cells) or allogeneic (a donor's cells); in the latter, donor immune cells can additionally attack remaining cancer cells. It is a demanding treatment lasting many months, carried out in specialized centers, and carries a significant risk of complications, including infections and graft-versus-host disease.