Bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant overview

A blood stem cell transplant, also called a blood or marrow transplant (BMT), replaces unhealthy blood forming-cells (blood stem cells) with healthy ones. Blood stem cell transplants are commonly used to treat blood cancers and disorders like acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and severe aplastic anemia (SAA). Although it’s a common misconception, a transplant is not surgery. Instead, the new, healthy cells are infused into a large vein through central intravenous catheter. 

After the healthy cells are infused they make their way into your bone marrow where they’ll grow into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. When they mature, they’ll leave the bone marrow and enter the bloodstream. 

The healthy blood-forming cells used in BMT transplants come from three sources: 

• Bone marrow - The soft, spongy tissue inside of bones.
• Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) - Blood-forming cells taken from blood circulating inside the body.
• Cord blood - The blood collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born.

The decision on which source of blood stem cells to use will be made by your transplant doctor. There are several factors involved, such as the severity of your disease, your age and more.

There are two main types of transplant:

1. An autologous transplant uses your own blood-forming cells.
2. An allogeneic transplant uses blood-forming cells donated by someone else.

An allogeneic transplant uses the cells from someone with closely matched human leukocyte antigens (HLA). Each sibling has a 25% chance of being an HLA match. Or it could be someone who matches exactly half of your HLA like your parent or child. When a donor matches exactly half of your HLA markers, the transplant is referred to as a haploidentical (half-match) transplant.

The cells for an allogeneic transplant can also come from an unrelated adult donor or cord blood unit your doctor finds through the NMDP Registry^SM. 

You won’t have to make treatment decisions on your own. Your health care team will help you understand the risks and benefits of every treatment option available, answer your questions and support you every step of the way.

If you’re not sure where to start, use our list of questions to ask your doctor to begin the information gathering process.

We partner with over 150 blood stem cell transplant centers across the United States to help facilitate life-saving transplants.

Visit our transplant center directory to search by location or diagnosis to find a transplant that best meets your needs.

During your treatment, you may be eligible to join a clinical trial. Doctors and researchers use clinical trials to better understand new treatments and their side effects, determine how well a new treatment or medicine works, or even to see if one treatment works better than another.

Our clinical trials overview can help you to learn how clinical trials are advancing treatments.

Sometimes it can be hard to find a clinical trial for yourself or a loved one. Our clinical trials search tool (Opens in a new tab) can help. There’s no cost to use the program. You can get one-on-one support to understand your options. An easy-to-use online search tool can also help you find clinical trials.

Explore the full range of services we provide for patients considering a blood stem cell transplant, including group support, emotional and spiritual support, tips for healthy living after transplant and more.