Stem cell transplants : Cancer Research UK : CancerHelp UK

About stem cell transplants

Stem cell transplant is a treatment to try to cure some types of leukaemia, lymphoma and other conditions affecting the bone marrow, such as myeloma. You have very high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes with whole body radiotherapy. This has a good chance of killing the cancer cells but also kills the stem cells in the bone marrow. We need stem cells in order to make red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. So after the high dose treatment you have stem cells into your vein through a drip. You may have your own stem cells or some from a donor.

You have injections of growth factors before, and sometimes after, the stem cell transplant. Growth factors are natural proteins that make the bone marrow produce blood cells. You have them as small injections under the skin for between 5 and 10 days. Sometimes you may have low doses of a chemotherapy drug too. The chemotherapy and growth factor injections help your bone marrow to make lots of stem cells. These stem cells then spill out of the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they can be collected.

Collecting the stem cells takes 3 or 4 hours. You lie down on a couch. Your nurse puts a drip into each of your arms and attaches it to a machine. Your blood passes out of one drip, through the machine and back into your body through the other drip. The machine filters the stem cells out of your blood. They are frozen until you are ready to have them back.

If you have stem cells from another person, you will have blood tests and the donor will also have blood tests. These tests make sure that the donated stem cells closely match your own.

Cord blood transplants use stem cells taken from the umbilical cord after a baby is born.

Mini transplants are also called reduced intensity conditioning. They use lower doses of chemotherapy than a traditional stem cell transplant and are used if people are too old or not well enough for a standard transplant.

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Stem cell transplants : Cancer Research UK : CancerHelp UK