Blood and Marrow Transplant

A blood and marrow transplant offers hope for patients with hematologic and lymphatic cancers

Blood and marrow transplants are among the most effective treatments for certain hematologic and lymphatic cancers.

At Baylor Scott & White Health, our blood and bone marrow transplant process and programs offer new hope for patients dealing with life-threatening cancers.

When is a blood and marrow transplant appropriate?

Thanks to advances such as reduced-intensity transplants, haploidentical transplants and related/unrelated donor transplants, a blood and marrow transplant (BMT) is available to more people than ever. Increased survival rates have gone hand-in-hand with innovative treatment approaches.

Today, BMT is often the treatment option of choice for patients diagnosed with:

Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Acute lymphocytic leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia
Multiple myeloma
Chronic myeloid leukemia
Severe aplastic anemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
High-risk relapse lymphoma
Immune deficiency disorders
Relapsed testicular cancer
Sickle cell anemia
Bone marrow failure syndromes
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
Some solid tumors

Blood and marrow transplant options

The blood and marrow physician specialist will recommend a specific type of blood and marrow transplant after considering individual patient factors.

Autologous transplant

Autologous transplant

Depending on their disease, some patients can have their stem cells removed and infused back into their body after they have undergone the appropriate procedure to either kill cancer cells, diminish the immune system to improve response to transplant, or destroy harmful bone marrow before the transplant takes place. This is an autologous transplant.
Allogeneic transplant

Allogeneic transplant

Note: Only offered at Baylor University Medical Center, part of Baylor Scott & White Health.

Other patients may not be able to use their own stem cells, so they must depend on matching with a donor who provides the stem cells for their transplant. This is an allogeneic transplant.
Related-donor transplant

Related-donor transplant

Generally, patients begin the allogeneic transplant process by looking for a relative to be their donor.

Siblings are often the best candidates; identical twins are an exact match.
Matched unrelated-donor transplant

Matched unrelated-donor transplant

Patients who are unable to find a match with a relative can search donor registries for an unrelated donor who is a match.
Haploidentical and cord blood transplants

Haploidentical and cord blood transplants

Haploidentical (half-matched) and cord blood transplants have expanded the pool of potential donors and made it possible for many more individuals to receive a blood and marrow transplant.

In the case of a cord blood transplant, the stem cells were collected and frozen at the time of the baby’s birth.
Reduced-intensity transplants

Reduced-intensity transplants

Some patients may have their bone marrow and immune systems weakened, but not destroyed, before infusing stem cells from a donor.

This is a reduced-intensity transplant.

Autologous transplant

Depending on their disease, some patients can have their stem cells removed and infused back into their body after they have undergone the appropriate procedure to either kill cancer cells, diminish the immune system to improve response to transplant, or destroy harmful bone marrow before the transplant takes place. This is an autologous transplant.

Allogeneic transplant

Note: Only offered at Baylor University Medical Center, part of Baylor Scott & White Health.

Other patients may not be able to use their own stem cells, so they must depend on matching with a donor who provides the stem cells for their transplant. This is an allogeneic transplant.

Related-donor transplant

Generally, patients begin the allogeneic transplant process by looking for a relative to be their donor.

Siblings are often the best candidates; identical twins are an exact match.

Matched unrelated-donor transplant

Patients who are unable to find a match with a relative can search donor registries for an unrelated donor who is a match.

Haploidentical and cord blood transplants

Haploidentical (half-matched) and cord blood transplants have expanded the pool of potential donors and made it possible for many more individuals to receive a blood and marrow transplant.

In the case of a cord blood transplant, the stem cells were collected and frozen at the time of the baby’s birth.

Reduced-intensity transplants

Some patients may have their bone marrow and immune systems weakened, but not destroyed, before infusing stem cells from a donor.

This is a reduced-intensity transplant.

What to expect

From start to finish, the transplant generally takes a few months.

Stem cells are harvested (collected) from bone marrow for a BMT transplant
- A donor or the transplant patient him or herself can serve as the source for the bone marrow stem cells.
Depending on the care plan devised by our team of specialists, the transplant patient will receive chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of both, to kill her or his cancer cells, immune system, or both.
The stem cells are infused (injected) into the patient’s bloodstream where they begin to produce healthy stem cells and bone marrow.

National Marrow Donor Program

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) was started in 1986 to serve as a national database of tissue types from individuals willing to donate marrow to patients needing a marrow transplant.

Since that time, the registry, now called the Be The Match^® Registry, has over 8 million individuals registered.

It is linked with registries all over the world, making it an international registry to serve any patient needing a transplant anywhere in the world.

A blood and marrow transplant offers hope for patients with hematologic and lymphatic cancers

When is a blood and marrow transplant appropriate?

Immune effector cell therapy