What is Cancer in General?
We have found that as time advances, there are more resources being used to fight certain diseases. For those of you who don’t quite know what cancer is, it is when abnormal cells in the body are multiplied at a quicker rate, leading to destroyed body tissue. It can be spread throughout the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancer can grow into and push on blood vessels, nerves, and organs. There are many different types of cancers, including colon cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and more. Cancer uses a lot of the body’s energy supply, and some symptoms of cancer can include weight loss, fever, & extreme tiredness.
So, is There a Cure?
While there isn’t one simple cure for cancer yet, there are many different treatments that are used depending on the person (and the type of cancer that they have). One treatment that isn’t talked about enough is the transplant of stem cells and bone marrow!
What Are Stem Cells?
First, you need to know what stem cells are. Stem cells are cells that usually are found/live in the bone marrow. The cells start out at first as the same, but they can mature to be different types of blood cells. Once they mature and leave the bone marrow, they enter the bloodstream. Stem cells are important because we need to maintain a certain amount of blood cells (red, white, and platelets) to keep us alive and for them to do their jobs.
How is Peripheral Blood Harvested?
There aren’t many stem cells that are found in the blood. The stem cells are taken from the blood using a catheter (which is like a thin, flexible tube). The catheter is put into a large vein and attached to a type of tubing that brings the blood to a machine. This machine separates the stem cells from the blood (which is actually given back to the donor!). This type of harvesting takes a while though, which means that it can take multiple hours and multiple days to just get enough cells for a singular transplant!
What is Umbilical Cord Blood?
After a child is birthed, the blood that is left behind in the placenta and umbilical cord can be taken and stored for a later stem cell transplant. When the baby is born, the trained members of the healthcare team make sure the cord blood is collected very carefully. The newborn IS NOT HARMED IN ANY WAY. Cord blood is a small part of the number of stem cells that are used for a transplant, but each cord blood stem cell can actually form more blood cells than a stem cell that is taken from adult bone marrow! Cord blood is given to the patient just like a blood transfusion.
What is Bone Marrow?
Bone marrow is liquid tissue that is usually found in the center of your bones. Its job is to make blood cells and help distribute them throughout your body. Your bone marrow carries a lot of your stem cells, and your pelvis bones typically carry a fairly large number of these types of cells. This is a reason why the pelvic (or hip) bone is one of the top choices to get cells from a bone marrow transplant.
Stem Cell Transplant Example: Bone Marrow Transplant:
For a stem cell transplant, you need a source of stem cells. These cells can come from your bone marrow (or somebody else’s), the umbilical cord blood from newborns, and the bloodstream (the peripheral blood from you or somebody else).
When it comes to getting these stem cells for the transplant, there are a couple things that you can do. The donor can either be yourself or another person, and they have a certain procedure that they use to get the cells out of the bone marrow. When the donor is getting the stem cells removed from their pelvic bone, for example, they will be under anesthesia (so they’ll be unconscious and won’t feel the pain). A large needle will be inserted into the lower back/back of hip bone. The liquid that comes out into the needle is the bone marrow, and they keep repeating this process until the amount of bone marrow they need is acquired
After the marrow is taken out from the patient or donor, they put the marrow in a solution (and then freeze it until it is needed for use). When the time comes and a patient needs to use the marrow, it is thawed & inserted into the patient’s blood through a vein. There are different ways that each type of transplants work, but the example that I just used is one of the ways that they would typically proceed with a transplant.
If there is a type of transplant like this, it is more effective for someone other than the patient to donate marrow, since it is more likely that the stem cells will fight off the cancer better than the healthy cells of the same person.
This type of transplant works to treat cancer by replacing bone marrow cells that have been destroyed by chemo, radiation, or the cancer itself. The patient’s stem cells were killed by high doses of chemo, which were aimed at those cancer cells. The main goal of a Stem Transplant is to replace damaged and/or unhealthy cells with newer, stronger cells that are healthy.
Do These Cost a Lot?:
Typically, stem cell transplants do cost a lot. Depending on what type of cell transplant you need, the cost can fluctuate. Another factor when it comes to these types of things would be your insurance/insurers. It is always helpful to ask your doctor(s) about the transplant and what’s covered, just to make sure that you have the right price.
Sources:
American Cancer Society. “What Are Stem Cells?: Where Do Stem Cells Come from?” What Are Stem Cells? | Where Do Stem Cells Come From?, 20 Mar. 2020, https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/stem-cell-transplant/why-stem-cell-transplants-are-used.html.
Yorumlar