Chemotherapy as a cancer treatment destroys the blood generating cells in the bone marrow, which is why transplants are often necessary in order to increase the life expectation of patients treated for tumors. Stem cell transplantation thus represents the major treatment solution for thousands of people who need such a form of regenerative therapy. Before any transplant, one needs to find a suitable donor, or in the absence of compatibility, the patient’s bone marrow cells will be collected and stored prior to the beginning of chemotherapy. After collection, they will be frozen and stored until the intervention.

Injection is the only way of sending stem cell transplants into the bloodstream and once they get into the bone marrow, these stem cells specialize and initiate blood production. There are several cycles of stem cell transplants that need to be performed depending on the cycles of the chemotherapy treatment. How can stem cells contribute to blood formation? Well, stem cells can generate the three types of blood cells such as the red blood cells, the white blood cells and the platelets. The red cells carry the oxygen to all the body parts, the white cells protect the system against bacteria acting as body shields and the platelets control blood clotting and bleeding.

The blood and bone marrow naturally contain stem cells, but under the influence of chemotherapy drugs, they get destroyed without the possibility to regenerate without help. The stem cell transplants thus become the way to restoring the blood cells production that would otherwise stop by lack of undifferentiated cells. Not all the cancer patients require stem cell transplants. In fact, several factors indicate whether the treatment is suitable for the patient or not, and here we can count the stage of the disease, its intensity, the patient’s responsiveness to the treatment and the overall physical condition.

In the past, only younger patients were chosen for stem cell transplants, but at present, age is no longer such a relevant criterion. As long as the internal organs are in good health and the response to chemotherapy is promising, stem cell transplants are possible. There are several types of stem cell transplants but only a few of them have reached a notorious status. And cord blood transplants, peripheral stem cell blood transplants or bone marrow transplants make the most relevant examples. Otherwise, the number of classifications and the criteria serving for such purposes is very large, although not necessary to the average person.