Stem cell transplantation is used to treat malignant blood disorders such as blood cancer (leukemia). In this procedure, patients receive their own blood stem cells back after undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Here you will find more information on autologous stem cell transplantation as well as specialists.
Unlike allogeneic stem cell transplantation, in autologous stem cell transplantation the patient receives their own blood stem cells back. Doctors have collected these cells at an appropriate time, usually before chemotherapy or radiation therapy that damages the bone marrow.
The cell donor and recipient are therefore the same person.
Stem cells are special cells that can transform into various other cell types @ Giovanni Cancemi /AdobeStock
A stem cell transplant is appropriate for people with malignant blood disorders.
These include patients with:
In leukemia (blood cancer), blood production in the bone marrow is severely impaired due to the disease or as a result of chemotherapy.
This often weakens the immune system as well. The body’s ability to produce blood can be severely reduced by leukemia or its treatment.
Therefore, these patients require new blood-forming cells—hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells. In this case, a stem cell transplant is necessary after the tumor cells have been destroyed. The transplanted stem cells rebuild the blood-forming capacity and the immune system.
Aggressive tumors of the hematopoietic system (leukemias) or certain brain tumors require cell-damaging therapy to cure the cancer.
However, this treatment also damages or completely destroys the hematopoietic bone marrow. Afterward, the patient needs stem cells to rebuild the bone marrow, blood, and immune system.
In an autologous stem cell transplant, doctors stimulate the patient’s bone marrow to produce more blood-forming stem cells. This is done prior to intensive chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Doctors can harvest the stem cells directly from the bone marrow or from the blood. While separating the stem cells from the other blood cells (stem cell apheresis), they also identify and eliminate cancer cells using specific antibodies.
This purification step is necessary to ensure that no cancer cells enter the body along with the stem cells later on.
Following the collection of the stem cells, high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy is administered. This also destroys the bone marrow, causing patients to lose their entire blood count and immune system.
After the therapy is completed, patients receive their purified autologous stem cells back via an infusion. These cells migrate into the bones and develop into new bone marrow there.
For this reason, stem cell transplantation is also commonly referred to as a bone marrow transplant.
For patients with blood cancer or lymph node cancer, autologous stem cell transplantation is often the only chance to recover @ Elroi /AdobeStock
If, after a few weeks, the patient begins to produce blood cells on their own and builds up their own immune system, there is a chance of a cure.
However, it is important that the newly formed blood cells do not contain cancer cells. Recurrence rates for leukemia, however, are comparatively high, at up to 20%.
Stem cell transplantation is a risky and very serious form of treatment.
The most common complications include:
Most patients who are candidates for an autologous stem cell transplant have leukemia.
Leukemias are primarily treated by specialists in the fields of hematology and oncology. In a broader sense, these two specialties fall under the umbrella of internal medicine.
It is important to ensure that patients seek advice at specialized cancer centers. These include, for example, centers for hemato-oncology or stem cell transplant centers. Many university hospitals in Germany have these specialized centers.
