Bone marrow transplantation

Procedure description

Bone marrow (stem cell) transplantation is a method for treating hematological, oncological, and autoimmune pathologies by injecting pre-prepared bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells into the patient. Globally, more than 150,000 bone marrow transplants are performed annually.

According to the World Health Organization, the success rate of bone marrow transplants has increased to 85% in recent years. The one-year survival rate following bone marrow transplantation performed in leading clinics worldwide is 96%. Stem cell collection and infusion aren’t limited to bone marrow transplantation: the same principle is used in preparing for CAR-T therapy, as well as in treatment protocols for a number of neurological and cardiac conditions. Read more in our article, Stem Cell Treatment: Heart, Cancer, and the CNS.

Features of the procedure in leading clinics

Bone marrow cells collected from the donor undergo filtration and purification before transplantation.

Types of bone marrow transplantation

In global practice, bone marrow transplantation is categorized into the following types:

• Autologous transplantation: the donor of stem cells is the patient themselves. In this case, bone marrow is collected before the start of intensive therapy and frozen. Later, the damaged bone marrow is replaced with the preserved cells.
• Allogeneic transplantation: the donor is a relative or someone closely matched genetically. Leading European clinics select the most compatible donor from National and International Registries. Up to 80% of transplants fall under this category.
• Haploidentical transplantation: the donor and recipient are half-matched. Before transplantation, the biological material undergoes special processing to eliminate potentially harmful bone marrow cells for the recipient.
• Umbilical cord blood transplantation: frozen stem cells from umbilical cord blood collected at birth are used.

The practice of finding a donor through international registries is developing especially rapidly in India — a country ranking among the leaders in bone marrow transplantation among emerging medical tourism destinations. For more on this, read our article «New Destinations in Medical Travel: What to Choose — UAE, South Korea, India, or China?».

Pediatric transplantation departments in advanced hospitals treat the youngest patients, achieving exceptional six-month survival rates of 98%.