What can stem cells do?

Today, stem cell therapy is an accepted method of treating many diseases.

A stem cell transplant is the infusion of healthy stem cells into your body. A stem cell transplant may be necessary if your bone marrow stops working and doesn't produce enough healthy stem cells. A stem cell transplant can help your body make enough healthy white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets, and reduce your risk of life-threatening infections, anaemia and bleeding.

Stem cell transplants are used to treat people whose stem cells have been damaged by disease or the treatment of a disease. Stem cell transplants can benefit people with a variety of both cancerous (malignant) and non-cancerous (non-malignant) diseases.

A stem cell transplant may help your body:

• Replace dysfunctional bone marrow. For instance, in aplastic anemia, a non-cancerous condition, your bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. A stem cell transplant procedure first destroys the dysfunctional marrow with powerful drugs or radiation, and then healthy stem cells are infused. If all goes well, the new stem cells migrate to the marrow and begin working normally.

• Destroy unhealthy bone marrow that may contain cancer cells. In the case of cancer, such as leukemia, a stem cell transplant procedure may first help rid the bone marrow of cancer cells. When healthy stem cells are then transplanted, normal cell production can resume. In addition, immune factors in the transplanted cells may help destroy any cancer cells that remain in your bone marrow.