At the beginning of 2016, doctors at Roswell Park Cancer Association diagnosed my grandmother with a reoccurrence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctors prescribed her three treatments of chemotherapy and the new addition of a stem cell transplant. Stem cells are cells that can change into new variations of cells for a greater use in the blood, muscles, or brain. Stem cells can be derived from autologous cells which are made by the patient or allogeneic cells which come from a donor. Even though the process or removing autologous cells is very taxing to the body, there is a higher success rate to restore the patients immune system without complications compared to using donor cells. In a stem cell transplant, cells are cleaned, removed, and filtered outside of the body. Leaving the patient with an unstable immune system that is unable to fight off diseases and infections. Stem cell transplants can be very deadly because there is a high risk of catching an infection and the risk is even higher at an older age. However, even though there is a high risk of death, the stem cell transplants is vital to prevent the reoccurrence of lymphoma.
No comments:
Post a Comment