Bone marrow transplants have become an important treatment for certain blood cancers. To date, over one million bone marrow transplantations have been performed worldwide, and this number continues to rise. Following a transplant, many people with blood cancer live longer or have been cured.

At Sheba Medical Center’s Hemato-Oncology Division, our physicians are highly experienced with bone marrow transplants and have performed over 2,000 of these advanced procedures. Our team comprises world-renowned experts, including hematologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists, who evaluate each case on an individual basis to provide optimized, personalized treatment. Sheba utilizes a cutting-edge HLA laboratory and our on-site molecular laboratory to find a perfect donor match for bone marrow transplantation. If no genetically suitable donor can be located, Sheba is a member of the National Marrow Donor Program and may use cells from this data bank. Throughout the transplantation process, we practice holistic medicine that considers your overall well-being and quality of life.

Diseases Treated by Bone Marrow Transplantation

we offer bone marrow transplantation for the following types of cancer:

•  Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), Adult and Child
•  Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Adult and Child
•  Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Adult and Child
•  Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), Adult and Child
•  Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), Adult and Child
•  Hodgkin Lymphoma, Adult and Child
•  Multiple myeloma, Adult

•  Myelofibrosis, Adult
•  Osteosarcoma, Child
•  Neuroblastoma, Child
•  Ewing’s sarcoma or Ewing sarcoma, Child
•  Wilms’ tumor (Nephroblastoma), Child
•  Medulloblastoma, Child
•  Rhabdomyosarcoma, Child

Side Effects of Bone Marrow Transplantation

A number of side effects may be caused by bone marrow transplantation. Some of the problems occur during the conditioning process, which prepares your immune system for the transplant, while other symptoms may appear during and following the infusion of new bone marrow cells. Side effects can range from mild to severe and life-threatening, which is why it is critical to inform your Sheba medical team about any symptoms or changes you notice. Our transplant team can help to prevent and relieve the discomfort of many side effects.

Side effects during conditioning

Conditioning treatments get your body ready for a bone marrow transplant, and they may involve chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Side effects may include:

• Nausea, vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Mouth sores
• Fatigue
• Dry mouth
• Rashes
• Hair loss
• Difficulty breathing

Side effects during cell infusion

As you receive your new bone marrow cells, the most common symptoms include:

• Headaches
• Fever
• Chills
• Nausea
• Flushing

These side effects can present up to one hour after the infusion is completed.

Side effects during engraftment

Engraftment is the phase that follows the infusion of new cells. This is when the transplanted tissue starts to produce new blood components in your body, such as platelets and red blood cells. Typical side effects during engraftment include:

• Trouble sleeping
• Nausea
• Skin rashes
• Mucositis (causes difficulty with eating and drinking)
• Lack of appetite
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue

Post-transplant side effects

After transplantation is complete, you may experience:

• Nausea, vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Lack of appetite
• Hair loss
• Skin rash
• Decreased libido
• Inflammation
• Weight changes

With time and as your immune system recovers, these side effects will usually subside.

Types of Bone Marrow Transplantation

There are two main types of bone marrow transplants, categorized by the source of the donor marrow: autologous transplants and allogeneic transplants.

Autologous transplants

Autologous transplants are taken from your own cells, typically sourced from peripheral blood that is frozen and preserved. Your cells must be harvested from your blood before you receive any cancer-killing treatments.

The advantage of autologous transplants is that you do not need to worry about graft-versus-host disease, which refers to when the engrafted cells attack your body.

Allogeneic transplants

Allogeneic transplants are performed using donor tissue from someone who is genetically suitable, often a close family member. The cells may be sourced from peripheral blood, bone marrow, or cord blood. When a perfect genetic match cannot be located, a mismatched allogeneic transplant may also be performed. In this case, the cells are sourced from peripheral blood and must undergo a refinement process to compensate for the riskier mismatch.

A possible advantage of allogeneic transplants is that the donor bone marrow cells create their own immune cells, which may help to kill cancer kills that remain in your body after treatment. However, graft-versus-host disease is a risk when performing allogeneic transplants.