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.
- Risks associated with chemotherapy, which will be smaller in these cases.
- The recurrence of the disease is one of the most dangerous risk after having undergone a reduced intensity transplant.
- In some cases, stem cells of the donor’s immune system fail to take control of the patient’s cells and do not reach the stage of full or complete chimerism. As a result, your doctor should recommend a reduced dose of anti-GVHD drugs, to allow the immune cells are more likely to develop. On the other hand, some doctors may choose to give more donor T cells in a process known as donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI). Swimming T cells could achieve destroy diseased cells. In some cases, even a mixed chimerism may not be sufficient to destroy the diseased cells of the patient.
Researcher are currently conducting more research on stem cells to better understand all the risks and benefits that entails a reduced intensity transplant.