It usually takes several weeks before the number of blood cells in your body starts to return to the standard range. In some people, it may take longer. In the days and weeks after your bone marrow transplant, you'll have blood tests and other tests to monitor your condition.
The survival rates after transplant for patients with acute leukemia in remission are 55% to 68% with related donors and 26% to 50% if the donor is unrelated.
The success rate of bone transplant in India differs from hospital to hospital with a collective average ranging from 60-90%.
It will take approximately one year for your blood type to convert.
Harvesting – the process of collecting the stem cells to be used in the transplant, either from you or a donor. Conditioning – treatment to prepare your body for the transplant. Transplanting the stem cells. Recovery – you'll need to stay in hospital for at least a few weeks until the transplant starts to take effect.
It usually takes about 3 months, but it's also normal to take more or less time. The time after your transplant is a time of cell recovery and growth.
Day 100 is a milestone that many stem cell transplant recipients circle boldly on their calendars as the turning point in their recovery. That's when the greatest risk for critical side effects is past and when the stem cells have engrafted and begun making new blood cells.
When the new stem cells multiply, they make more blood cells. Then your blood counts will go back up. This is one way to know if a transplant was a success.
Engraftment syndrome (ES) is a clinical condition that is characterized by fever, rash, pulmonary edema, weight gain, liver and renal dysfunction, and/or encephalopathy. It occurs at the time of neutrophil recovery after stem cell transplantation (SCT) (Chang et al. 2014).
Relapse of the original malignancy after SCT now remains the most frequent cause of treatment failure and mortality. Approximately 40–45% of recipients of HLA-identical siblings and approximately 35% of recipients of unrelated donor transplants will relapse with their original malignancy (Figure 1) [1].
The Canadian Cancer Society reports that 65–70% of people under 60 years old will go into complete remission after induction therapy, which is the first phase of treatment. People over the age of 60 years typically have a lower response rate, with approximately 25–40% surviving for 3 years or longer.
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.
If you need to be in a hospital, you probably won't have to stay longer than 3 weeks. If the stem cells came from another person (allogeneic transplant), you may spend 4 weeks or longer in the hospital. About 1 out of 4 people need to be readmitted within the first 3 months because of problems that may occur.
People with certain blood-related conditions benefit from a transplant that replaces damaged cells with healthy cells, possibly from a donor. Bone marrow transplants can be lifesaving for people with conditions such as lymphoma or leukemia, or when intensive cancer treatment has damaged blood cells.
Rejection is supported by the presence of recipient lymphocytes, preferentially T-cells, and the absence of donor cells in blood and marrow. Graft failure may also be due to other causes, such as viral infections, specifically, cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpes virus type 6 (HHV6) and parvovirus.
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.
A slow and steady increase in blood cell counts indicates that engraftment is occurring. Early on in the process, the complete blood cell count will show a rise in white blood cells and a shift from predominantly lymphocytes to neutrophils.
You might experience extreme fatigue, nausea or vomiting. Be patient — this should pass in a week or so. Remember that your body is busy trying to recover, and give it time to rest and heal. Pain: The high doses of chemotherapy used during conditioning may leave you with painful mouth sores and stomach irritation.
Bacterial infections are the most common. Viral, fungal and other infections can also occur. Some infections can develop later on, weeks to months after the transplant. Infections can cause extended hospital stay, prevent or delay engraftment, cause organ damage, and may be life threatening.
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.
It's best to start slow and gradually increase your activity level. For example, start with a small goal like walking down the street and back. Then, increase your distance as you feel able. Continue to increase your distance until you are able to walk at least 30 minutes a day.
Getting your results
Your bone marrow test will be looked at in the laboratory. The time it takes to receive results depends on which tests are being done on the bone marrow samples. Basic results can be available as soon as 24 to 48 hours. Whereas genetic tests on bone marrow samples can take a couple of weeks.
You may be able to exercise as normal or stick with gentle activity such as light walking or cycling, and there are times when it's safest to avoid exercise. Your team will also be on the look-out for signs of infection, such as a fever.
Some 62% of BMT patients survived at least 365 days, and of those surviving 365 days, 89% survived at least another 365 days. Of the patients who survived 6 years post-BMT, 98.5% survived at least another year.