Why are chemotherapy and radiation therapy used before a transplant?
Before you have chemotherapy and radiation, you have blood taken and stored (banked) for later. Then you have chemotherapy and radiation to destroy the diseased cells in your bone marrow and the rest of your body. This gets rid of the cancer cells in your bone marrow. Later, when you get your stored blood cells back, those new stem cells will be able to take over the job of making new blood cells. How are stem cells transplanted? A central venous catheter is inserted in your chest. The stem cells travel from the blood bag through the catheter into your blood, and to your bone marrow, where they will begin to produce new cells in 1 to 3 weeks. During this time: • You may be in isolation and given antibiotics to prevent or to treat infection. Destroying your bone marrow cells with chemotherapy leaves your body unable to fight infection. • Your blood will be tested often to check the levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in your body. • You may need to receive severa
