So You Need A Bone Marrow Transplant: 10 Things To Know

Cancer research has come a long way. Studies have shown that bone marrow transplants can be extremely useful in helping certain types of cancer patients heal. If you’re in need of a bone marrow transplant, there are a few things you’ll want to know.

1. Transplants are cheaper in some countries.

While bone marrow transplants in the United States can run upwards of $800,000, some countries offer the procedure at a much lower price tag. A bone marrow transplant in India, for example, only costs between $15,000 and $22,000. It might be worth researching the costs and eligibility requirements for receiving treatment in a different country.

2. 95 percent of bone marrow treatments go to blood cancer patients.

Bone marrow transplants can be used for a few other conditions, but various blood cancers are the most common cause for transplants. Blood cancer treatments often damage the bone’s marrow to where it requires a replacement.

The other 5 percent of transplants are used for the treatment of inherited blood disorders like various types of anemia.

3. There are two kinds of bone marrow transplants.

Your options are an autologous transplant and an allogeneic transplant. An autologous transplant occurs when doctors use a person’s own cells to restore bone marrow in certain areas. It’s only an option with certain diseases.

An allogeneic transplant occurs when someone else donates the bone marrow. This is the most common type of transplant.  

4. Transplants usually aren’t painful.

When bone marrow must be harvested from a donor, it’s usually done under anesthesia. No pain occurs during the procedure for donors. However, the donor may experience some back and hip pain afterward.

5. The success rate for matched bone marrow transplants is 99 percent.

Thankfully, nearly every matched bone marrow transplant is successful. It’s one of the easiest transplants to make. If the marrow is not a full match, the odds drop to 85-90 percent, which is still pretty good odds in the world of transplants.

6. It’s incredibly easy to become part of the bone marrow registry.

Registers like Be the Match find people who are willing and able to donate bone marrow to needed recipients. Those who donate do not have to go through a complex procedure to see if they’re a match, contrary to popular belief.

Instead, they simply take a cotton swab and gently scrape tissue from the inside of their cheek. It’s then added to a registry where donors are potentially matched with those in need. If matched, a potential donor will do a physical exam and blood tests if they choose to accept the opportunity to donate.

7. It’s easier to find a transplant match within your own family.

If possible, it’s best to find a match within your family. The chances of a family member being a match are one in four, and these matches are considered full matches. Large families usually have no trouble finding a full match somewhere in their family, but smaller families often struggle.

8. A bone marrow transplant and stem cell transplant are two different things.

Bone marrow is the soft, spongey tissue within the bones. It actually produces hematopoietic stem cells used in stem cell transplants, which usually turn into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

When only one or the other is needed in a transplant, the stem cells are separated from the marrow through a process called apheresis. The component that’s not being used is returned to the donor in the same cycle in which it was taken out.

9. Bone marrow stem cells are obtained in three primary ways.

The first is a bone marrow harvest, which occurs when stem cells are collected from the bone marrow. There’s also apheresis or leukapheresis where stem cells are collected through your blood by way of an intravenous line (IV). It’s similar to the process of donating blood or plasma.

The final, common method is when stem cells are obtained from the blood of the umbilical cord after the baby is born. These stem cells are immature, so a perfect match is not essential here.  

10. 85 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant get one.

The 15 percent who don’t receive a transplant speak to the need for donors to register. It’s a simple process that could one day save a life!