At Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, part of Sutter Cancer Centers, doctors offer stem cell transplants as a way to provide you with an extended remission or cure for certain inherited or acquired conditions. Stem cell transplants can be especially helpful if you have leukemia, multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
There are several reasons a doctor may feel a stem cell transplant could improve your condition. Your doctor might recommend a stem cell transplant if you:
- Need to receive very high doses of chemotherapy.
- Have deficient bone marrow that needs to be replaced, such as in patients with aplastic anemia.
- Could use a new immune system to help fight your cancer, known as the so-called graft-versus-tumor effect.
- Need a bone marrow replacement for bone marrow affected by a genetic condition.
Stem cells are the precursors, essentially the “mothers and fathers,” to all the blood cells in our bloodstream. They have the ability to divide and multiply, and to mature into the following blood cells:
- Red cells, which provide and carry oxygen.
- White blood cells, which fight infections.
- Platelets, which help in blood clotting.
Stem cells reside in the bone marrow, but can be moved to the bloodstream by a medical technique called “mobilization.” During mobilization, doctors use blood hormones known as growth factors, with or without chemotherapy, to stimulate the body to produce more stem cells and move them into the bloodstream where they can be collected for use in transplantation.