From BMT Newsletter May1994 Issue # 23 - Breast Cancer Reprinted by NYSERNet with Permission from BMT Newsletter
When doctors harvest bone marrow for transplant, it is really the stem cells in the bone marrow that they are collecting. Stem cells are the "mother cells" from which all blood cells evolve.
Although the greatest concentration of stem cells is in the bone marrow, stem cells can also be found in the circulating blood. Thus, some centers harvest bone marrow for reinfusion following high dose chemotherapy (an autologous BMT); others harvest peripheral stem cells (a peripheral stem cell transplant); and still others harvest both (autologous BMT with stem cell support). Whether a center uses autologous bone marrow, peripheral stem cells or both during transplant does not appear to affect the cure rate for diseases.
For information about bone marrow or peripheral stem cell transplants, see Chapters 3 and 4 in Bone Marrow Transplants: A Book of Basics for Patients, published by BMT Newsletter.
This document was created by NYSERNet, Inc. through a grant funded by the New York State Science and Technology Foundation as part of the Breast Cancer Infomation Clearinghouse.