Bone Marrow Transplantation

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Each year, there are over 8 lakh cancer cases in India. The mortality rates have reached up to 5.5 lakh annually. According to a survey from 2014, the number of cancer cases in India is on a steep rise. It is important to take a look at these numbers because cancer is one of the major reasons why a patient would require a bone marrow transplant. A condition like leukemia is one among many which require a BMT.

It involves replacing the old bone marrow with news blood stem cells. These stem cells are of three types and they are responsible for fighting infections, bleeding disorders, or anemia.

• White blood cells to fight infections.

• Red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body.

• Platelets to control bleeding.

A few uncommon facts about the bone marrow transplant are that it is not exclusively for leukemia. On quite the contrary, with BMT treatment of many types of cancer, including multiple types of leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma is possible. A bone marrow transplant is also a part of the treatment regime for syndromes like sickle cell disease, which is inherited or developed after birth. In addition, unlike other medical procedures, a patient receiving BMT can go home as soon as the procedure is complete. Nowadays, medicines have made it possible for a bone marrow transplant patient to return home right after the procedure. Moreover, there are more than just one type of procedures and some of them are discussed below:

• Autologous Transplant: The term auto means self. Stem cells are removed from you before you receive high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The stem cells are stored in a freezer. After high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatments, your stems cells are put back in your body to make normal blood cells. This is called a rescue transplant.
• Allogeneic Treatment: The term "Allo" means other. Stem cells are removed from another person, called a donor. Most times, the donor's genes must at least partly match your genes. Special tests are done to see if a donor is a good match for you. A brother or sister is most likely to be a good match. Sometimes parents, children, and other relatives are good matches. Donors who are not related to you, yet still match, may be found through national bone marrow registries. Umbilical cord blood transplant This is a type of allogeneic transplant. Stem cells are removed from a newborn baby's umbilical cord right after birth. The stem cells are frozen and stored until they are needed for a transplant. Umbilical cord blood cells are very immature so there is less of a need for perfect matching. Due to the smaller number of stem cells, blood counts take much longer to recover.

Also, Read aboutRole of chemotherapy and radiation in Bone Marrow Transplant.

It is important for a patient to know about various symptoms involved with this condition. Symptoms include nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, severe pain in bones and Drastic Weight Loss. Other symptoms are.

• Inefficient Blood Clotting - This happens when underdeveloped white blood cells flood the platelets causing a  vulnerable state of bleeding with a slow healing capacity.
• Catching Constant Infections - White blood cells function to fight off the infections, when underdeveloped WBCs flood the system, they are unequipped to deal with infections.

As is the case with any complex medical procedure, there are certain complications and risks involved with a bone marrow transplant. As a result of which, many would recommend to seek a second opinion or even a third before getting a transplant. If it is such a condition which is treatable with medicine, then getting a BMT should be the last resort. So, before getting a transplant one should be aware of the following complications and risks:

• GVHD - GVHD or graft-versus-host-disease is a condition in which the donor cells do not take well to the recipient body and immediately start attacking it.
• Mucositis - Mucositis is usually a result of chemo or radiotherapy. In this condition, the mucous membrane lining the digestive tract suffers painful inflammation and ulceration.
• Bleeding In The Lung - Bleeding in either the lung or other parts of the body occurs due to the fact that the conditioning treatment of bone marrow transplantation adversely affects the body’s ability to make platelets and as already established, platelets are responsible for controlling bleeding.
• Pacemaker Problems - No matter how precise, a pacemaker is still a machine at the end of all discussions. And it is a commonly known fact that machines are liable to break down. Thus, a pacemaker surgery also involves the risk of malfunction of the pacemaker device. These malfunctions include anything from a failed battery to improper programming of the pacemaker. `
• Graft Failure - In this condition, the recipient body does not respond well to the donor cells. This is a common condition in a failed transplant case when the patient and the donor is mismatched. Although graft failure is rare, the case with graft failure usually leads to a fatality. It is always a safe bet to get a second opinion for one’s condition. This holds especially true with a procedure as complex as a bone marrow transplant. However, one should not shy away from getting the procedure if need be, either. With the advancement made in medicine, most procedures have a relatively high success rate and are usually cost-efficient. Keeping in mind the fact that one’s health is all the wealth the one earns in one’s lifetime.