Many times, bone marrow transplants are used in conjunction with other therapies to treat patients with certain cancers of the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. Bone marrow transplants can also be used to help patients with certain kinds of blood or immune disorders.

Bone marrow transplants, as well as blood transplants, are also called ”stem cell transplants.” These are transplants of normal mature stem cells from adults. 

In certain therapies, patients receive high doses of chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation. These high doses can lead to better control or even cure of the cancers.  However, the main side effect of the high doses of chemotherapy is prolonged suppression of the body’s ability to make blood. 

To get around this side effect, the patient receives an infusion of hematopoietic stem cells, which make new blood cells and immune cells.  They can be obtained either from the bone marrow (bone marrow transplant) or from the blood stream (blood or peripheral blood stem cell transplant). 

The Bone Marrow Transplant and Hematologic Malignancies Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center provides state-of-the-art care, and includes the following:

• Accreditation granted by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), which accredits bone marrow transplant programs that have achieved the highest levels of clinical and research practices;
  
  
• A highly experienced team of physicians, nurses and ancillary staff; 
  
  
• A hematopathology laboratory that is a recognized world leader in expert diagnosis;
  
  
• All treatment approaches, including chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplantation, immunotherapy, radioimmunotherapy and experimental therapy;
  
  
• Excellent clinical results with outcomes superior to national norms in several areas; and
  
  
• Recognized leadership in laboratory and clinical research.

The medical center’s clinical trials program gives patients access to treatments often unavailable at other health-care facilities. Depending on the specific condition, UT Southwestern can offer patients therapies that show particular promise years before those therapies are offered to the public, such as a new method of bone marrow transplantation that de-emphasizes the toxic effects of high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This therapy emphasizes the powerful anti-cancer effects of donor immune cells, resulting in complete and ongoing remissions in many patients with otherwise incurable malignancies. 

Our experience in conducting some of the most advanced research into bone marrow transplants enables UT Southwestern to provide our patients with the best possible medical treatments – all in a caring and compassionate environment.