Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Stem Cell Transplantation to Avoid Cancer

Stem cell transplants are used to replace bone marrow cells that have been destroyed by cancer or destroyed by the chemo and/or radiation used to treat cancer. They all use very high doses of chemo to kill cancer cells. But the high doses can also kill all the stem cells a person has and can cause the bone marrow to completely stop making blood cells for a while. Transplanting healthy cells lets doctors use much higher doses of chemo to try to kill all of the cancer cells, and the transplanted stem cells can grow into healthy, mature blood cells that work normally and reproduce cells that are free of cancer.