Blood and Marrow Transplant Program | University of Iowa …

The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa has been performing stem cell transplants since 1980. The program has earned reaccreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), putting Iowa's BMT program on a select list of institutions that meet the most rigorous standards in every aspect of stem cell therapy, including clinical care, donor management, cell collection, processing, storage, transportation, administration, and cell release.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells.

There are several alternative names for a blood and marrow transplant, including:

Our experienced team has provided over 3300 stem cell transplantsadult,pediatric, allogeneic and autologoussince 1980. Learn more about why the UI Blood and Marrow Transplant Program is your best choice for care.

There are three kinds of bone marrow transplants:

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 (cryopreservation). After high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatments, your stems cells are put back in your body to make (regenerate) normal blood cells. This is called a rescue transplant.

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 blood 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 may be found through national bone marrow registries.

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 matching. But blood counts take longer to recover.

Before the transplant, chemotherapy, radiation, or both may be given. This may be done in two ways:

High-dose chemotherapy, radiation, or both are given to kill any cancer cells. This also kills all healthy bone marrow that remains, and allows new stem cells to grow in the bone marrow.

Patients receive lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation before a transplant. This allows older patients, and those with other health problems to have a transplant.

A stem cell transplant is done after chemotherapy and radiation is complete. The stem cells are delivered into your bloodstream usually through a tube called a central venous catheter. The process is similar to getting a blood transfusion. The stem cells travel through the blood into the bone marrow. Most times, no surgery is needed.

Adult solid tumors

Pediatric solid tumors

Most patients receiving a stem cell transplant are in their fifties and sixties. Sometimes, they are a little older. Transplantation is a very intensive therapy, and we need to have some reassurance that patients have a good chance of surviving and will not succumb to such intensive therapy. We try to maximize success and minimize the risk of patients actually having their life shortened by a stem cell transplant.

To assess the fitness of a patient to receive a transplant, we test:

In addition, we will ensure that there is no active infection by doing blood work and imaging tests such as CT chest, CT sinuses and/or PET-CT scan. These tests are arranged prior to the first clinic visit so that the results can be reviewed and decisions can be made about treatment options during the visit with the specialist.

The transplant process is outlined in detail in our Allogeneic and Autologous Guidebooks and instructional videos.

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Blood and Marrow Transplant Program | University of Iowa ...