Posts Tagged ‘Umbilical Cord Blood’
Umbilical Cord Blood: Disadvantages of Reduced Intensity Transplants
A reduced intensity transplant may not be effective for treating diseases of rapid spread or certain diseases that are in progressive stages, such as: leukemia in blast phase. Some of the risks associated with this type of stem cell transplants include:
- To develop infection and seriously threaten the transplant, however, the risk is lower in reduced-intensity transplants.
- Develop GVHD. The risk of Graft-versus-patient after having had a mini-transplant has not been determined accurately. Some studies have shown that the risk will be higher, while others show the opposite results. However, the transplant patient will be given anti-GVHD drugs once they have undergone the procedure, and it will be carefully monitored to prevent any kind of complication arises. Read the rest of this entry »
Umbilical Cord Blood: Benefits of Reduced Intensity Transplants
This type of stem cell transplantation is more appropriate to treat certain patients suffering from specific diseases. Patients who typically benefit from this procedure are those whose systems can not tolerate standard transplantation procedures, among which may include the following:
- Elderly.
- Patients who have weakened bodies, including those with heart disease or kidney problems or whose organs have been damaged by previous treatments or infections.
- Patients who have undergone a transplant or more than one.
- Patients with immune system deficiencies or failure of the bone marrow as a result of congenital neutropenia, thrombocytopenia or aplastic anemia.
- Patients who have experienced pre-leukemia syndrome, such as myelodysplastic syndrome and monosomy 7.
- Patients who are going through the first stage of remission of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Read the rest of this entry »
Umbilical Cord Blood: Reduced Intensity Transplants
A typical stem cell transplant, regardless of whether it is used umbilical cord blood or bone marrow grafting involves a system of preparation or conditioning, which is usually intense and can be fatal in some cases. This procedure prior to transplantation involves intense chemotherapy and radiation, whose goal is to destroy the diseased cells (for example, cancer cells), as well as strengthening the patient’s immune system to prevent the system person who is undergoing stem cell transplantation refuses to accept the donated cells.
A typical preparative regimen to allow for a stem cell transplant is also known as: myeloablation. Through research related to stem cells, doctors have developed a reduced intensity transplant pemit minimize potential risks that sometimes are associated with transplantation of umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. These types of transplants in which stem cells are used, sometimes known as non-myeloablative transplants or mini-transplants. Read the rest of this entry »