If you are thinking does bone marrow transplant save live, then the answer is yes. Bone marrow transplants are used to treat many malignant and non-malignant diseases like cancer, aplastic anaemia, multiple myeloma, myelofibrosis, and diseases of the blood. With the development of technology, the techniques used in a bone marrow transplant has seen improvement, making it a highly successful treatment procedure. A large number of people have a new life with this life-saving treatment.

Different names for transplants

• Bone marrow transplant (BMT) - This type of transplant makes use of stem cells taken from the bone marrow.
• Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant - This method uses stem cells taken from the body’s circulating blood.
• Cord blood transplant when - Stem cells from the blood of the umbilical cord, which is given off by the mother right after her child has been born, is used in the transplant, it is known as a cord blood transplant.
• Stem cell transplant/marrow transplant/blood transplant - General term for a transplant that makes use of stem cells of the marrow, umbilical cord blood, or the circulating blood of the human body.
• Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) - A transplant of stem cells that for the stem cells.

Types of a bone marrow transplant

Many factors determine the type of bone marrow transplant operation in India. These factors include the type, status, and severity of the disease, the age, and health of the patient, availability of stem cell donors. The most important difference between the different types of bone marrow transplants is whether you are using your own cells or that of a donor.

Autologous transplant - In an autologous transplant, the doctor extracts stem cells from the patient, conditions it by freezing it, and by using other procedures and then puts it back into the patient’s body. In this type of transplant, you do not need a donor for stem cell, as you are a donor yourself.

Allogeneic transplant - In an allogenic transplant, you need a donor to provide you healthy stem cells, to help you recover completely. There are several options to choose from, which makes this process an easy and convenient one.

• Related donor transplant - When a relative, most preferably a sibling is the best match to donate stem cells.
• Unrelated but matched donor transplant - When no relative is available to become a donor, the doctor may search for an international donor by looking up the donor registries.
• Haploidentical transplant - when you fail to find a closely matched donor, you may receive a stem cell transplant from a donor who half-matches you. This option gives you a large number of potential donors to choose from. Advancement in drug therapies makes this half-matched transplant extremely successful.
• Cord blood transplant - The stem cells from the blood of the donated umbilical cord need not be a complete match to your stem cells. The white blood cells in the cord blood are not trained to fight against foreign bacterial invasion.

We hope the above information on how bone marrow transplant save live will help you in a better understanding of the subject.