![]() Stem cells are collected from your bloodstream by passing all your blood through a special machine called a cell separator (or apheresis machine). It is important to keep taking your injections of growth factors at the same time every day until you are told to stop. Regular blood tests will be taken over the following week to identify the best day to start collecting your stem cells. Growth factor injections are usually given for several days, usually starting 24 hours after the completion of your chemotherapy. G-CSF promotes the production of stem cells in the bone marrow which then leak out into your normal blood circulation in your veins. This process is called stem cell mobilisation and usually involves the use of chemotherapy in combination with colony stimulating growth factor injections – usually G-CSF. Stem cells normally live in the bone marrow, but they can be encouraged to move out of the bone marrow and into the bloodstream. It is more common these days to collect bone marrow stem cells from the bloodstream. In autologous stem cell transplantation, stem cells are collected (or “harvested”) from either the bone marrow, bloodstream (called a peripheral blood stem cell harvest), or sometimes a combination of both. ![]() Stem cells are usually collected when the patient’s disease is in remission or their disease is in a more stable state. potential post-transplant complications.The process of a stem cell transplant can be divided into these nine different stages: A transplant involves a lot of preparation and a lot of aftercare. It’s important to realise that the processes involved in a stem cell transplant are often long and complex. Others, particularly those with myeloma or some solid tumours, may have two or more sequential (one after the other) transplants, over a period of a few months. Most people have a single autologous transplant. Autologous transplants allow the use of high-dose chemotherapy, which provides some patients with a better chance of cure or long-term control of their disease. They are used to replace stem cells that have been damaged by high doses of chemotherapy, used to treat the patient’s underlying disease.Īutologous transplants are used to treat a number of different blood cancers. These cells are collected in advance (while they are in remission) and returned to the patient at a later stage. In autologous stem cell transplants, the patient is their own stem cell donor. What is an autologous stem cell transplant?
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