Sometimes stem cells also need to be replaced because they are diseased (for example in leukaemia) or defective (for example in aplastic anaemia). In short, a stem cell transplant is necessary to ensure that the bone marrow is repopulated with healthy blood stem cells following high-dose treatment.
Patients with leukemia sometimes benefit from receiving a stem cell transplant, or bone marrow transplant. This procedure replenishes the blood stem cells in the bone marrow so they can go on to produce healthy new blood cells.
BMT, also known as a bone marrow transplant or blood stem cell transplant, can treat patients who have AML, including older patients. It replaces the unhealthy blood-forming cells (stem cells) with healthy ones. For some people, transplant can cure their disease.
When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a person's bone marrow stem cells will be permanently damaged or destroyed by the treatment, a bone marrow transplant may be needed. Bone marrow transplants may also be needed if the bone marrow has been destroyed by a disease.
You might have a stem cell or bone marrow transplant as part of your treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). A transplant allows you to have high doses of chemotherapy and other treatments. The stem cells are collected from the bloodstream or the bone marrow.
Autologous stem cell transplantation — using cells collected from the patient's own bone marrow after they have achieved complete remission — appears to produce a cure approximately 50 percent to 55 percent of the time for intermediate-risk AML. This stage of treatment is both the most important and most dangerous.
Although AML is a serious disease, it is treatable and often curable with chemotherapy with or without a bone marrow/stem cell transplant (see the Types of Treatment section).
Study Population
Overall, the estimated survival of the study cohort was 80.4% (95% CI, 78.1% to 82.6%) at 20 years after transplantation. Survival beyond 5 years correlated inversely with age at transplantation (Fig 1).
Although only 62% of patients survived the first year post-BMT, 98.5% of patients alive after 6 years survived at least another year. Almost 1/3 (31%) of the deaths in long-term survivors resulted from causes unrelated to transplantation or relapse.
One of the reasons bone marrow transplants are often a last resort for patients with blood cancers is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a common occurrence where transplanted donor immune cells attack both malignant and healthy cells in the recipient.
Many people enjoy long and healthy lives after treatment for blood cancer. Sometimes, the treatment can affect a person's health for months or even years after it has finished. Some side effects may not be evident until years after treatment has ceased. These are called 'late effects'.
Generally for all people with ALL:
more than 65 out of 100 people (more than 65%) will survive their leukaemia for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.
In the United States, overall, 5-year survival among people diagnosed with leukemia is 65%. However, these statistics vary greatly according to the specific subtype of disease: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) 5-year survival rate is 88%. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) 5-year survival rate is 71.3%.
Hair loss is a common side effect of cancer treatment. Hair loss can happen as a side effect of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, or a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant. These cancer treatments can harm the cells that help hair grow.
Infections, toxicity, and (after allogeneic HSCT only), graft-vs. -host disease (GVHD) are the main causes of death.
People have more probability of surviving for another 15 years after a bone marrow transplant, who's been able to survive for at least 5 years after hematopoietic cell transplant without any signs and symptoms of relapse of the original disease. However, a normal life expectancy is not completely achieved.
Understandably, transplants for patients with nonmalignant diseases have a much better success rate with 70% to 90 % survival with a matched sibling donor and 36% to 65% with unrelated donors.
How does blood or marrow transplant (BMT) work for ALL? BMT, also known as a bone marrow transplant or blood stem cell transplant, can treat patients who have ALL, including older patients. It replaces the unhealthy blood-forming cells (stem cells) with healthy ones. For some people, transplant can cure their disease.
The most common treatment for graft failure is another transplant. A second transplant may use cells from the same donor or from a different donor.
Although many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can be cured with stem cell transplantation (SCT), approximately 30% to 40% will experience relapse of their cancer after the transplantation.
People in stages 0 to II may live for 5 to 20 years without treatment. CLL has a very high incidence rate in people older than 60 years. CLL affects men more than women. If the disease has affected the B cells, the person's life expectancy can range from 10 to 20 years.
6. Is leukemia curable if caught early? If caught early, leukemia can be cured by undergoing several cancer treatments.
If the first treatment with chemo doesn't work, your healthcare provider may advise another kind of chemo. This might be given in high doses as part of a stem cell transplant. It depends on a variety of factors, such as your age, overall health, and if the first treatment worked at all.