|
Leukemia Treatment Options
Blood Stem Cell Transplant
Blood stem cell transplants can treat AML
by transplanting healthy blood-producing cells into the patient's
bone marrow. The three sources of stem cells now being used
for transplants are bone marrow, circulating blood (also known
as peripheral blood), and umbilical cord blood.
In a blood stem cell transplant, the leukemia patient is first
given a pre-transplant treatment of chemotherapy
and/or radiation therapy to destroy the patient's leukemia
cells and immune system. Blood stem cells are then put into
the patient's blood to restore the patient's immune system
and blood cell production.
Two Types of Stem Cell Transplants: Autologous and Allogeneic
There are two types of blood stem cell transplants that can
be used to treat patients with acute
myelogenous leukemia (AML):
· Autologous blood stem cell transplants use the patient's
own blood stem cells.
· Allogeneic blood stem cell transplants use the blood
stem cells of a donor.
For an autologous stem cell transplant, the patient's own
blood stem cells are collected and frozen. After the patient
has received high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy,
the stem cells are put back into the patient. Autologous transplant
patients avoid graft-versus-host disease, which can be a serious
side effect of an allogeneic transplant.
Although some AML
patients receive autologous transplants, allogeneic transplants
are more common because relapse (return of the AML) is more
common after autologous transplants. To do an allogeneic transplant,
a donor is needed.
The donor can be either related or unrelated to the patient.
Related donors are usually siblings. For a cancer patient
thinking about a transplant, the first thing a doctor does
is to tissue type the patient's family. If no matching family
member is found, the patient's doctor can search the National
Marrow Donor Program's Registry of more than 5 million
potential marrow and blood stem cell donors for a match.
Whether a related or unrelated donor is used, the transplant
procedure is the same: the blood stem cells are collected
from a donor and given to the patient. Unlike in autologous
transplants, however, the stem cells from allogeneic donors
are rarely frozen; instead, they are usually infused into
the patient within 24 hours of being collected.
Some allogeneic transplant recipients may get graft-versus-host
disease. In graft-versus-host-disease the patient's new immune
system -- created by the stem cells from the donor -- attacks
the patient's body.
There are two types of graft-versus-host-disease: acute, when
symptoms appear soon after transplant, and chronic, when symptoms
develop slowly and may linger for months or years. Although
graft-versus-host-disease can be very serious, doctors watch
transplant recipients closely for signs of graft-versus-host-disease
and can usually control graft-versus-host-disease with drugs.
Find out more about…
Chemotherapy
| Radiation Treatment
& Surgery
|
Leukemia Cancer Information