Stem cell transplant (bone marrow transplant) :: The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

Stem cell transplant – also known as bone marrow transplant – replaces damaged blood cells with healthy ones.

Stem cells are special cells produced by bone marrow (a spongy tissue found in the centre of some bones) that can turn into different types of blood cells. For example:

Red blood cells – which carry oxygen around the body
White blood cells – which help fight infection
Platelets – which help stop bleeding

Stem cell transplants are used to treat some blood cancers and other blood conditions by destroying damaged cells and replacing them with healthy cells.

There are two types of stem cell transplant:

Autologous – where a patient’s own stem cells are harvested, frozen and then transplanted later after any damaged cells have been removed
Allogeneic – where the patient receives stem cells from a donor

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is the regional stem cell transplant centre for Cheshire and Merseyside.

Our stem cell transplant unit is on Level 5 of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool. Patients are admitted to Ward 5 for their care. The ward is specially designed with air filtration to keep patients safe from infection while they recover.

We carry out autologous (from the patient) and allogeneic (from a donor) stem cell transplants for:

Blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma
Solid tumour cancers – cancer that is not blood cancer
Non-cancerous blood conditions such as aplastic anaemia

Stem cell transplant process

Stem cell transplants involve several stages:

Tests and assessments – to check if the patient is suitable and their body is likely to cope with a stem cell transplant
Harvesting healthy stem cells from the blood or bone marrow. This could be from the patient or a donor. It will usually take place in the NHS Blood and Transplant Therapeutic Apheresis suite at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool. The donor could be:
- the patient’s sibling – 1 in 4 chance of being a full match
- an unrelated donor who is a full match. The matching process is done via the British Bone Marrow Registry. (Find out more about becoming a stem cell donor)
- a parent or child of the patient – this is a half-match transplant
- occasionally stem cells may be taken from a cord blood bank that stores core blood from newborn babies
Conditioning the patient for treatment – this may involve high-dose chemotherapy or radiotherapy to kill the cancer cells and give healthy bone marrow
Transplant – the patient receives stem cells that can develop into healthy blood cells
Recovery – the recovery process can take some time. Patients usually need to stay in hospital for several weeks. During this time, they can be very vulnerable to infection while their immune systems recover from treatment.

Factors to consider

Stem cell transplants are a very intensive form of treatment. For some patients, they may offer the best chance of a cure. For others, it may mean a longer remission. They are not suitable for everyone, however.

Stem cell transplants involve having intensive chemotherapy – and sometimes radiotherapy – beforehand to:

Destroy cancer cells
Create space in the bone marrow for new stem cells, and
Suppress the immune system

There are also risks and potential complications. Your clinical team will discuss this with you and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Before any transplant takes place, your clinical team will carry out extensive tests and checks to make sure you are well enough and your body is likely to be able to cope with it.