Chemotherapy and radiation are highly toxic to the bone marrow, so after a patient undergoes treatment, they must have a healthy supply of stem cells reintroduced or transplanted. These cells remain within the marrow until they are transformed into red blood cells and released into the bloodstream, where they perform important functions like carrying oxygen, providing protection from infection, and helping your blood to clot.Ī bone marrow transplant is often required upon completion of cancer treatment. The bone marrow is very active, producing millions of cells every hour. This is called the bone marrow, and it produces all of the different cells that make up your blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, as well as the cells that make up your immune system. Some of the larger bones in your body have a soft, spongy center. It is also referred to as a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, and is a common treatment for blood diseases like leukemia or lymphoma. You have likely heard of a bone marrow transplant, the most common form of stem cell treatment available today. In this case, doctors use a drug or biologic (a drug produced from living organisms) to activate a desired response from the stem cells that already exist in the patients tissues or organs. Stem cell transplants are used to replace stem cells or bone marrow that have been damaged or destroyed either by disease, or by radiation and chemotherapy during cancer treatment. They are then injected or grafted into the patient. In this procedure, the desired stem cells are harvested either from the patient or from a donor, and then modified or refined in some way. They are typically used in one of two ways: Stem cell therapy uses stem cells to cure or reduce the severity of a disease or disorder. Stem cells are the only cell in the body with the natural ability to generate new cell types, so they are crucial to our health. This could be a blood cell, brain cell, heart muscle cell, or bone cell. Daughter cells either become new stem cells (this is how stem cells self-renew so we don’t run out of them), or they become a new, specialized cell. Stem cells divide and become what are called daughter cells. They are the starting point from which all other cells with special functions generate. To understand stem cell therapy, it is important first to know what a stem cell actually is. Be an active participant in your own care.
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