From what I understand most bones have marrow, therefore how does a transplant work if it is throughout your body?
In: Biology
Take stem cells from donor’s healthy bone marrow. Inject them into patient whose bone marrow is completely destroyed. Stem cells multiply and become new healthy bone marrow.
Sometimes before chemotherapy/other dangerous treatments, the patient’s stem cells are taken and stored. If chemotherapy destroys the patient’s bone marrow then you just reinsert the stem cells.
A bone marrow transplant takes a donor’s healthy blood-forming cells and puts them into the patient’s bloodstream, where they begin to grow and make healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Patients receive high doses of chemotherapy to prepare their body for the transplant.
The recipient first has their marrow destroyed using either chemo or radiation. *Then* the donor marrow or donor stems cells are injected. The donor marrow/stem cells will naturally find their way to the proper location and set up shop so they can begin replication and producing new blood cells for recipient, and the recipient’s old marrow is gone so there’s nothing in the way.
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