Patient Services :: Diseases Treated by Bone Marrow or Cord Blood

How Many Lives Can Be Saved by Bone Marrow/Stem Cell and Cord Blood Transplantation?

Every year, an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 transplants are performed using bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), or umbilical cord blood cells. These transplants are crucial to treating patients with life-threatening illnesses. For some diseases, marrow/stem cell and cord blood transplantation has become a standard procedure.

As medical advances in transplantation expand, the number of illnesses that can be treated continues to grow. Scientists are even researching ways to use these cells to treat common illnesses such as heart disease and skin cancer. The exciting promise of these cells makes it likely that bone marrow/stem cell and cord blood donation will be more routine in the future.

Today, bone marrow and cord blood are used to treat the following:

Leukemias and Lymphomas:

• Acute myelogenous leukemia
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia
• Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia
• Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Plasma Cell Neoplasms (Plasma Cell Disorders):

• Multiple myeloma
• Isolated plasmacytoma of bone
• Extramedullary plasmacytoma
• Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia
• Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance
• Refractory plasma cell neoplasms

Marrow Failure States:

• Severe aplastic anemia
• Fanconi anemia
• Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)
• Pure red cell aplasia
• Amegakaryocytosis
• Congenital thrombocytopenia

Inherited Immune System Disorders:

• Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), all sub-types
• Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

Hemoglobinopathies:

• Beta thalassemia major
Sickle cell disease

Metabolic Disorders:

• Hurler's syndrome (MPS-IH)
• Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Metachromatic leukodystrophy

Myelodysplastic and Myeloproliferative Disorders:

• Refractory anemia (all types)
• Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
• Agnogenic myeloid metaplasia (myelofibrosis)

Histiocytic Disorders:

• Familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Other Malignancies

Radiation Poisoning

Chemotherapy Side Effects

Sources:

• The National Marrow Donor Program (http://www.marrow.org/PHYSICIAN/diseases_treatable.html)
• National Cancer Institute - CancerWeb (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cancernet/210392.html)