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Blood and marrow transplant (BMT), also known as stem cell transplant is a promising therapy for leukemia. It’s also among the greatest success stories in cancer care — and it started right here at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.
Through the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Fred Hutch, we’ve performed more than 18,500 transplants. This makes our program not only the first, but also one of the most respected and successful of its kind in the world.
Our depth and breadth of knowledge allow us to treat both common and very rare leukemias, and help manage any complications that might arise, helping you get better faster. And if you need a donor, we will help you find one.
Leukemia Care Tailored to You
You and your family are our top priority. At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, we offer comprehensive and compassionate care — personalized to you. You'll have access to the latest treatment options, clinical trials and supportive care services.
How Blood and Marrow Transplant is Used to Treat Leukemia
Blood and marrow transplant involves several steps. It will take about four months if you’re receiving cells from a donor and about two months if your own cells will be used.
- After your initial consultation, the next step is finding and preparing a stem cell donor, if you need one, or preparing to have your own stem cells collected for use in your transplant later. We will guide you, step by step, as you get ready.
- When you arrive at Fred Hutch for your transplant, your experienced team thoroughly evaluates your health before providing your conditioning treatment (chemotherapy, radiation or both) and transplanting the stem cells.
- After the transplant infusion, as your bone marrow and immune system recover, we will carefully monitor and support you and your caregiver until you’re ready to return to your referring physician’s care.
- When it’s time to go home, we’ll make sure you feel ready and tell you about our Long-Term Follow-Up (LTFU) Program.
Why Choose Fred Hutch for Blood and Marrow Transplant for Leukemia
The world’s first bone marrow transplant took place in the 1970s, when one of our physician-researchers, E. Donnall Thomas, MD, and his team developed the clinical use of transplants — and won a Nobel Prize for this work.
Each year since then, our physicians and researchers have made more discoveries. And in the past few years alone, major advances have made treatment available for more people, such as those who are older and those who might not have found a donor in the past.
BMT can be used to treat blood cancers, like leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndrome. It can also be used to treat non-cancerous diseases like aplastic anemia, myelofibrosis and immune deficiency disorders.
Sometimes the amount of radiation, chemotherapy or both that is needed to treat a cancer is so high that a patient’s stem cells will be badly damaged or destroyed by these treatments. Other times, bone marrow can be destroyed by a disease. BMT replaces these damaged cells with healthy new cells.
The cells that are transplanted, called hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells, can come from bone marrow, circulating blood or umbilical cord blood donated after a person gives birth.
- Allogeneic transplant: When healthy stem cells used in a transplant come from a donor, it is called an allogeneic transplant.
- Autologous transplant: When healthy stem cells come from a patient’s own body, it is called an autologous transplant.
- Blood/stem cell transplant: When healthy stem cells come from a patient’s own blood (autologous) or a healthy donor’s blood (allogeneic), it is called a blood/stem cell transplant. These are the most common type of transplants.
- Bone marrow transplant: When healthy stem cells come from a healthy donor’s bone marrow, it is called a bone marrow transplant.
- Cord blood transplant: A cord blood transplant is a type of allogeneic transplant. It uses stem cells from the blood of a newborn’s umbilical cord. After a baby is born, parents can choose to donate their umbilical cords. The blood from these cords is frozen, then stored in a cord blood bank until it is used in a transplant.
- Haploidentical (haplo) transplant: Sometimes a parent, sibling or child can be a donor, even if they are not a very close match to the patient. In a haploidentical transplant, these first-degree relatives only need to be a 50% match to the patient.