Dec. 9, 2013 at 10:17 AM ET

Two men who had hoped they might be cured of an HIV infection after getting bone marrow transplants for cancer got some bad news, doctors said Monday. The virus has come back.

The intense and life-threatening treatments for cancer appeared to have wiped the virus out, and the two men took a chance and, earlier this year, stopped taking the HIV drugs that were keeping the virus under control.

At first, no signs of the virus could be found. But their doctors, cautious after decades of fighting a tricky virus, didnt declare a cure.

Its disappointing, said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, who worked with Dr. Timothy Henrich to treat and study the two men.

But its still taught us a great deal.

The case of the two men shows that even if you make HIV seemingly disappear, it can be hiding out in the body and can re-activate. It might be somewhere other than in blood cells, Henrich said. Other scientists suspect HIV might be able to hole up in organs or inside the intestines.

Through this research we have discovered the HIV reservoir is deeper and more persistent than previously known and that our current standards of probing for HIV may not be sufficient to inform us if long-term HIV remission is possible if antiretroviral therapy is stopped, Henrich said.

Both patients have resumed therapy and are currently doing well. Neither man wants to be named.

Henrich, Kuritzkes and colleagues had actively looked for HIV patients with leukemia or lymphoma who had received bone marrow stem cell transplants.

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AIDS virus comes back in men who hoped for cure

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New research suggests that outcomes for patients who have undergone stem cell transplants from unrelated or mismatched donors could be improved with the use of a drug called bortezomib, also known as velcade. This is according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Stem cell transplants are treatments carried out in an attempt to cure some cancers affecting the body's bone marrow, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

The treatment involves very high doses of chemotherapy (myeloablation) or whole body radiotherapy to clear a person's bone marrow and immune system of cancerous cells.

After this process, the killed cells are replaced with healthy stem cells through a drip that flows into a vein. These stem cells can be from the patient's own body or from a donor - preferably a sibling.

According to researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who conducted the study, stem cells from unrelated or mismatched donors are likely to lead to worse patient outcomes following transplantation.

These patients tend to have a higher mortality rate as a result of the treatment and are more likely to experience graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). This is a disease in which the transplanted cells attack the immune system of the recipient.

According to the researchers, recipients of mismatched donor transplants have a severe GVHD rate of 37%, a 1-year treatment-related mortality rate of 45%, and a 1-year overall survival rate of 43%.

Recipients of unrelated donor transplants have a severe GVHD rate of 28%, a 1-year treatment-related mortality rate of 36%, and a 1-year overall survival rate of 52%.

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Bone marrow is the tissue comprising the center of large bones.

It is the place where new blood cells are produced.

Bone marrow contains two types of stem cells: hemopoietic (which can produce blood cells) and stromal (which can produce fat, cartilage and bone).

There are two types of bone marrow: red marrow (also known as myeloid tissue) and yellow marrow.

Red blood cells, platelets and most white blood cells arise in red marrow; some white blood cells develop in yellow marrow.

The color of yellow marrow is due to the much higher number of fat cells.

Both types of bone marrow contain numerous blood vessels and capillaries. At birth, all bone marrow is red.

With age, more and more of it is converted to the yellow type.

Adults have on average about 2.6kg (5.7lbs) of bone marrow, with about half of it being red.

Red marrow is found mainly in the flat bones such as hip bone, breast bone, skull, ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blades, and in the cancellous ("spongy") material at the proximal ends of the long bones femur and humerus.

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Bone marrow - Science Daily

A new study appearing in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) demonstrates the potential of a subset of stem cell called CD34+ in treating hard to heal bone fractures.

Durham, NC (PRWEB) December 04, 2013

A new study appearing in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) demonstrates the potential of a subset of stem cell called CD34+ in treating hard to heal bone fractures.

While most patients recover from broken bones with little or no complication, up to 10 percent experience fractures that wont heal. This can lead to a number of debilitating side effects, from infection to bone loss, and it can require extensive treatment involving multiple operations and prolonged hospitalization as well as long-term disability.

Regenerating broken bone using stem cells could offer an answer. Adult human peripheral blood CD34+ cells have been shown to contain an abundance of a type of stem cell called endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) as well as hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to all types of blood cells. As such, they could be good candidates for this therapy.

However, while other types of stem cells had been tested for their bone regeneration potential, the ability of CD34+ to do so had never been reported on before the phase I/II clinical study was published in the current SCTM. It was conducted by researchers at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, led by Tomoyuki Matsumoto, M.D., and Ryosuke Kuroda, M.D., members of the universitys department of orthopedic surgery and its Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation (IBRI).

The study was designed to evaluate the safety, feasibility and efficacy of autologous and G-CSF-mobilized CD34+ cells in patients with non-healing breaks, breaks that had not healed in nine months, in their legs. (G-CSF is a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood.) Seven patients were treated with the stem cells after receiving bone grafts.

Bone union was successfully achieved in every case, confirmed as early as 16.4 weeks on average after treatment, Dr. Kuroda said.

Dr. Matsumoto added, Neither deaths nor life-threatening adverse events were observed during the one year follow-up after the cell therapy. These results suggest feasibility, safety and potential effectiveness of CD34+ cell therapy in patients with nonunion.

Atsuhiko Kawamoto, MD, Ph.D., a collaborator in IBRI, said, "Our team has been conducting translational research of CD34+ cell-based vascular regeneration therapy mainly in cardiovascular diseases. This promising outcome in bone fracture opens a new gate of the bone marrow-derived stem cell application to other fields of medicine."

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In the early 1980s, when the transplant act was written, the process was more demanding, involving anesthesia and the use of large, hollow needles to extract marrow from a donors hip. But today, more than two-thirds of marrow donations are done via apheresis. Blood is taken from a donors arm, the bone-marrow stem cells are filtered out, and the blood is then returned to the donor through a needle in the other arm.

The Ninth Circuit panel held that these filtered stem cells are merely components of blood no different from blood-derived plasma, platelets and clotting factors, for which donor compensation is allowed.

The strongest opposition to compensation comes from the National Marrow Donor Program, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit that maintains the nations largest donor registry. Michael Boo, the programs chief strategy officer, says of reimbursement, Is that what we want people to be motivated by?

The problem with this logic is that altruism has proven insufficient to motivate enough people to give marrow and, as a result, people die.

HHS is presumably under pressure from the National Marrow Donor Program. The department does not otherwise explain its proposed rule except to claim that compensation runs afoul of the transplant acts intent to ban commodification of human stem cells and to curb opportunities for coercion and exploitation, encourage altruistic donation and decrease the likelihood of disease transmission.

But how could such concerns plausibly apply to marrow stem cells and not to blood plasma? The process of collecting plasma is safe: No serious infection has been transmitted in plasma-derived products in nearly two decades, according to the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association. Strenuous screening and testing in a robust regulatory environment, coupled with voluntary industry standards and sophisticated manufacturing processes, have created what has been called the safest blood product available today.

Constitutional violation

Outlawing compensation for stem blood cells but not mature blood cells might even violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the law, according to Jeff Rowes, a lawyer at the Institute for Justice, which represented Flynn.

HHS should withdraw its proposal. Ideally, Congress should thwart future regulatory mischief by amending the National Organ Transplant Act to stipulate that marrow stem cells are not organs.

Each year, 2,000 to 3,000 Americans in need of marrow transplants die waiting for a match. Altruism is a virtue, but clearly it is not a dependable motive for marrow donation.

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November 28, 2013

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Could paying for bone marrow cells really boost the number of donors? The Obama administration is taking steps to block a federal court ruling that had opened a way to find out.

Buying or selling organs has long been illegal, punishable by five years in jail. The 1984 National Organ Transplantation Act that set the payment ban didn't just refer to solid organs -- it included bone marrow transplants, too.

Thousands of people with leukemia and other blood diseases are saved each year by bone marrow transplants. Thousands more, particularly minorities, still have trouble finding a genetically compatible match even though millions of volunteers have registered as potential donors under the current altruistic system.

A few years ago, the libertarian Institute for Justice sued the government to challenge that system. It argued that more people with rare marrow types might register to donate -- and not back out later if they're found to be a match -- if they had a financial incentive such as a scholarship paid by a nonprofit group.

Ultimately, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that some, not all, marrow donors could be compensated -- citing a technological reason. Years ago, the only way to get marrow cells was to extract them from inside bone. Today, a majority of donors give marrow-producing cells through a blood-filtering process that's similar to donating blood plasma. Because it's legal to pay plasma donors, the December 2011 court ruling said marrow donors could be paid, too, as long as they give in that newer way.

"They're not even transplanting your bone marrow. They're transplanting these baby blood cells," said Jeff Rowes, an attorney with the Institute for Justice. It represented some families who'd had trouble finding donors, and was pushing for a study of compensation as a next step.

Not so fast, says the Obama administration. The government now has proposed a regulation to keep the ban intact by rewriting some legal definitions to clarify that it covers marrow-producing stem cells no matter how they're derived.

"It is not a matter of how you obtain it," said Shelley Grant of the Health Resources and Services Administration's transplant division. "Whether we obtain them through the marrow or the circulatory system, it is those stem cells that provide a potential cure."

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A bone marrow transplant is when special cells (called stem cells) that are normally found in the bone marrow are taken out, filtered, and given back either to the same person or to another person.

In diseases such as leukemia and aplastic anemia, the bone marrow is unhealthy. The purpose of a bone marrow transplant is to replace unhealthy stem cells withhealthy ones. This can treat or even cure the disease.

If a family member does not match the recipient, the National Marrow Donor Program Registry database can be searched for an unrelated individual whose tissue type is a close match. It is more likely that a donor who comes from the same racial or ethnic group as the recipient will have the same tissue traits. The chances of a minority person in the United States finding a registry match are lower than that of a white person (see article, Marrow Matches For Minorities Are Harder to Find).

If stem cells are collected by bone marrow harvest (much less likely), the donor will go to the operating room and while asleep under anesthesia, a needle will be inserted into either the hip or the breastbone to take out some bone marrow. After awakening, he/she may feel some pain where the needle was inserted.

Serious problems can occur during the time that the bone marrow is gone or very low. Infections are common, as is anemia, and low platelets in the blood can cause dangerous bleeding internally. Recipients often receive blood transfusions to treat these problems while they are waiting for the new stem cells to start growing.

When a person volunteers to be a donor, his/her particular blood tissue traits, as determined by a special blood test (histocompatibility antigen test), are recorded in the Registry. This "tissue typing" is different than a person's A, B, or O blood type. The Registry record also contains contact information for the donor, should a tissue type match be made.

Note: The author has been a registered donor since 1993.

Source:

"The Donation Procedure." Donor Information. Oct 2005. National Marrow Donor Program. 25 Jul 2007.

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Bone Marrow Transplants - How They Work - About.com Rare Diseases

Leukemia is a cancer of white blood cells, or leukocytes. Like other blood cells, leukocytes develop from somatic stem cells. Mature leukocytes are released into the bloodstream, where they work to fight off infections in our bodies.

Leukemia results when leukocytes begin to grow and function abnormally, becoming cancerous. These abnormal cells cannot fight off infection, and they interfere with the functions of other organs.

Successful treatment for leukemia depends on getting rid of all the abnormal leukocytes in the patient, allowing healthy ones to grow in their place. One way to do this is through chemotherapy, which uses potent drugs to target and kill the abnormal cells. When chemotherapy alone can't eliminate them all, physicians sometimes turn to bone marrow transplants.

In a bone marrow transplant, the patient's bone marrow stem cells are replaced with those from a healthy, matching donor. To do this, all of the patient's existing bone marrow and abnormal leukocytes are first killed using a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Next, a sample of donor bone marrow containing healthy stem cells is introduced into the patient's bloodstream.

If the transplant is successful, the stem cells will migrate into the patient's bone marrow and begin producing new, healthy leukocytes to replace the abnormal cells.

New evidence suggests that bone marrow stem cells may be able to differentiate into cell types that make up tissues outside of the blood, such as liver and muscle. Scientists are exploring new uses for these stem cells that go beyond diseases of the blood.

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There are 3 possible sources of stem cells to use for transplants: bone marrow, the bloodstream (peripheral blood), and umbilical cord blood from newborns. Although bone marrow was the first source used in stem cell transplant, peripheral blood is used most often today.

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue in the center of bones. Its main job is to make blood cells that circulate in your body and immune cells that fight infection.

Bone marrow was the first source used for stem cell transplants because it has a rich supply of stem cells. The bones of the pelvis (hip) contain the most marrow and have large numbers of stem cells in them. For this reason, cells from the pelvic bone are used most often for a bone marrow transplant. Enough marrow must be removed to collect a large number of healthy stem cells.

For a bone marrow transplant, the donor gets general anesthesia (drugs are used to put the patient into a deep sleep so they dont feel pain). A large needle is put through the skin and into the back of the hip bone. The thick, liquid marrow is pulled out through the needle. This is repeated several times until enough marrow has been taken out (harvested). (For more on this, see the section called Whats it like to donate stem cells?)

The harvested marrow is filtered, stored in a special solution in bags, and then frozen. When the marrow is to be used, its thawed and then given just like a blood transfusion. The stem cells travel to the recipients bone marrow. There over time, they engraft or take and begin to make blood cells. Signs of the new blood cells usually can be measured in the patients blood tests in about 2 to 4 weeks.

Normally, few stem cells are found in the blood. But giving hormone-like substances called growth factors to stem cell donors a few days before the harvest causes their stem cells to grow faster and move from the bone marrow into the blood.

For a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, the stem cells are taken from blood. A very thin flexible tube (called a catheter) is put into one of the donors veins and attached to tubing that carries the blood to a special machine. The machine separates the blood, and keeps only the stem cells. The rest of the blood goes back to the donor. This takes several hours, and may need to be repeated for a few days to get enough stem cells. The stem cells are filtered, stored in bags, and frozen until the patient is ready for them. (For more on this, see the section called Whats it like to donate stem cells?)

After the patient is treated with chemo and/or radiation, the stem cells are given in an infusion much like a blood transfusion. The stem cells travel to the bone marrow, engraft, and then grow and make new, normal blood cells. The new cells are usually found in the patients blood a few days sooner than when bone marrow stem cells are used, usually in about 10 to 20 days.

Not everyone who needs an allogeneic stem cell transplant can find a well-matched donor among family members or among the people who have signed up to donate. For these patients, umbilical cord blood may be a source of stem cells. Around 30% of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplants are done with cord blood.

A large number of stem cells are normally found in the blood of newborn babies. After birth, the blood that is left behind in the placenta and umbilical cord (known as cord blood) can be taken and stored for later use in a stem cell transplant. The cord blood is frozen until needed.

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Sources of stem cells for transplant - American Cancer Society

Surgeon performs bone marrow harvest

The terms "Hodgkin's Disease," "Hodgkin's Lymphoma," and "Hodgkin Lymphoma" are used interchangeably throughout this site.

Bone Marrow Transplants (BMT) and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplants (PBSCT) are emerging as mainstream treatment for many cancers, including Hodgkin's Disease and Medium/High grade aggressive)Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

BMTs have been used to treat lymphoma for more than 10 years, but until recently they were used mostly within clinical trials. Now BMTs are being used in conjunction with high doses of chemotherapy as a mainstream treatment.

When high doses of chemotherapy are planned, which can destroy the patients bone marrow, physicians will typically remove marrow from the patients bone before treatment and freeze it. After chemotherapy, the marrow is thawed and injected into a vein to replace destroyed marrow. This type of transplant is called an autologous transplant. If the transplanted marrow is from another person, it is called an allogeneic transplant.

In PBSCTs, another type of autologous transplant, the patient's blood is passed through a machine that removes the stem cells the immature cells from which all blood cells develop. This procedure is called apheresis and usually takes three or four hours over one or more days. After treatment to kill any cancer cells, the stem cells are frozen until they are transplanted back to the patient. Studies have shown that PBSCTs result in shorter hospital stays and are safer and more cost effective than BMTs.

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Stem Cell Transplants and Bone Marrow Transplant to Treat Lymphoma

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells, which fight infections, and platelets, which help the to blood clot.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that replaces a person's faulty bone marrow stem cells. Doctors use these transplants to treat people with certain diseases, such as

Before you have a transplant, you need to get high doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation. This destroys the faulty stem cells in your bone marrow. It also suppresses your body's immune system so that it won't attack the new stem cells after the transplant.

In some cases, you can donate your own bone marrow stem cells in advance. The cells are saved and then used later on. Or you can get cells from a donor. The donor might be a family member or unrelated person.

Bone marrow transplantation has serious risks. Some complications can be life-threatening. But for some people, it is the best hope for a cure or a longer life.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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Bone Marrow Transplantation: MedlinePlus - National Library of ...

With more than 50 years of experience studying blood-forming stem cells called hematopoietic stem cells, scientists have developed sufficient understanding to actually use them as a therapy. Currently, no other type of stem cell, adult, fetal or embryonic, has attained such status. Hematopoietic stem cell transplants are now routinely used to treat patients with cancers and other disorders of the blood and immune systems. Recently, researchers have observed in animal studies that hematopoietic stem cells appear to be able to form other kinds of cells, such as muscle, blood vessels, and bone. If this can be applied to human cells, it may eventually be possible to use hematopoietic stem cells to replace a wider array of cells and tissues than once thought.

Despite the vast experience with hematopoietic stem cells, scientists face major roadblocks in expanding their use beyond the replacement of blood and immune cells. First, hematopoietic stem cells are unable to proliferate (replicate themselves) and differentiate (become specialized to other cell types) in vitro (in the test tube or culture dish). Second, scientists do not yet have an accurate method to distinguish stem cells from other cells recovered from the blood or bone marrow. Until scientists overcome these technical barriers, they believe it is unlikely that hematopoietic stem cells will be applied as cell replacement therapy in diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's Disease, spinal cord injury, and many others.

Blood cells are responsible for constant maintenance and immune protection of every cell type of the body. This relentless and brutal work requires that blood cells, along with skin cells, have the greatest powers of self-renewal of any adult tissue.

The stem cells that form blood and immune cells are known as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). They are ultimately responsible for the constant renewal of bloodthe production of billions of new blood cells each day. Physicians and basic researchers have known and capitalized on this fact for more than 50 years in treating many diseases. The first evidence and definition of blood-forming stem cells came from studies of people exposed to lethal doses of radiation in 1945.

Basic research soon followed. After duplicating radiation sickness in mice, scientists found they could rescue the mice from death with bone marrow transplants from healthy donor animals. In the early 1960s, Till and McCulloch began analyzing the bone marrow to find out which components were responsible for regenerating blood [56]. They defined what remain the two hallmarks of an HSC: it can renew itself and it can produce cells that give rise to all the different types of blood cells (see Chapter 4. The Adult Stem Cell).

A hematopoietic stem cell is a cell isolated from the blood or bone marrow that can renew itself, can differentiate to a variety of specialized cells, can mobilize out of the bone marrow into circulating blood, and can undergo programmed cell death, called apoptosisa process by which cells that are detrimental or unneeded self-destruct.

A major thrust of basic HSC research since the 1960s has been identifying and characterizing these stem cells. Because HSCs look and behave in culture like ordinary white blood cells, this has been a difficult challenge and this makes them difficult to identify by morphology (size and shape). Even today, scientists must rely on cell surface proteins, which serve, only roughly, as markers of white blood cells.

Identifying and characterizing properties of HSCs began with studies in mice, which laid the groundwork for human studies. The challenge is formidable as about 1 in every 10,000 to 15,000 bone marrow cells is thought to be a stem cell. In the blood stream the proportion falls to 1 in 100,000 blood cells. To this end, scientists began to develop tests for proving the self-renewal and the plasticity of HSCs.

The "gold standard" for proving that a cell derived from mouse bone marrow is indeed an HSC is still based on the same proof described above and used in mice many years ago. That is, the cells are injected into a mouse that has received a dose of irradiation sufficient to kill its own blood-producing cells. If the mouse recovers and all types of blood cells reappear (bearing a genetic marker from the donor animal), the transplanted cells are deemed to have included stem cells.

These studies have revealed that there appear to be two kinds of HSCs. If bone marrow cells from the transplanted mouse can, in turn, be transplanted to another lethally irradiated mouse and restore its hematopoietic system over some months, they are considered to be long-term stem cells that are capable of self-renewal. Other cells from bone marrow can immediately regenerate all the different types of blood cells, but under normal circumstances cannot renew themselves over the long term, and these are referred to as short-term progenitor or precursor cells. Progenitor or precursor cells are relatively immature cells that are precursors to a fully differentiated cell of the same tissue type. They are capable of proliferating, but they have a limited capacity to differentiate into more than one cell type as HSCs do. For example, a blood progenitor cell may only be able to make a red blood cell (see Figure 5.1. Hematopoietic and Stromal Stem Cell Differentiation).

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5. Hematopoietic Stem Cells - NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page

Bone Marrow Cells & Tissue

AllCells is able to provide whole bone marrow aspirate and

collected from healthy individuals. These bone marrow products are available in fresh or frozen format.

The following bone marrow cells and tissue product types are available from AllCells:

Please view all of our Bone Marrow Products below.

Bone Marrow (BM) contains hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, which are self-renewing, proliferating, and differentiating into multi-lineage blood cells. Multipotent, non-hematopoietic stem cells, such as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, can be isolated from human bone marrow as well. These non-hematopoietic, bone marrow stromal cells are capable of both self-renewal and differentiation into bone, cartilage, muscle, tendons, and fat. 100 mL of bone marrow cells and tissue is drawn into a 60cc syringe containing heparin (80 U/mL of BM) from the posterior iliac crest, at a maximum of eight separate sites. Whole bone marrow products are diluted with PBS. Please see our entire Bone Marrow Product inventory below.

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Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into the red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body, the white blood cells that fight infections, and the platelets that help with blood clotting.

If you have a bone marrow disease, there are problems with the stem cells or how they develop.Leukemiais a cancer in which the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. Withaplastic anemia, the bone marrow doesnt make red blood cells. Other diseases, such aslymphoma, can spread into the bone marrow and affect the production of blood cells. Other causes of bone marrow disorders include your genetic makeup and environmental factors.

Symptoms of bone marrow diseases vary. Treatments depend on the disorder and how severe it is. They might involve medicines, blood transfusions or abone marrow transplant.

Bone marrow tests check whether your bone marrow is healthy. These tests also show whether your bone marrow is making normal amounts of blood cells.

Bone marrow is a sponge-like tissue inside the bones. It contains stem cells that develop into the three types of blood cells that the body needs:

Another type of stem cell, called an embryonic (em-bre-ON-ik) stem cell, can develop into any type of cell in the body. These cells arent found in bone marrow.

Doctors use bone marrow tests to diagnose blood and bone marrow diseases and conditions, including:

Bone marrow tests also help doctors figure out how severe cancer is and how much it has spread in the body. The tests also are used to diagnose fevers and infections.

The two bone marrow tests are aspiration (as-pih-RA-shun) and biopsy.

Bone marrow aspiration usually is done first. For this test, your doctor removes a small sample of fluid bone marrow through a needle. He or she may have some idea of what the problem is, and the sample gives him or her useful information about the cells in the marrow.

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The UCLA Program is a combined program caring for patients with Hematologic Malignancies receiving chemotherapy and those patients for whom Stem Cell Transplantation is the therapy of choice. The treatmentof blood and marrow cancers includecurrently available therapies, investigational drugs and treatments, as well as stem cell transplantation. Our physicians meet weekly to discussindividual treatment approachesas part of developing a coordinated treatment recommendation.

Bone Marrow Transplantation was first performed at UCLA in 1968 using a related allogeneic transplant to treat an 18 month old child with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome. The UCLA Marrow Transplantation Program was formally initiated in 1973. Unrelated donor marrow transplants have been carried out at UCLA since 1987, and Cord Blood Transplants have been performed at UCLA since 1996. Autologous transplants have been performed at our program since 1977. Since 1992 most of the Autologous Transplants have utilized Peripheral Blood Stem Cells. Since 1998 an increasing number of the Allogenic Transplants have utilized Peripheral Blood Stem Cells. From inception to the completion of 2007 we have performed 3726 transplants (3080 transplants in the adult population and 646 in the pediatric population).

For decades, this comprehensive program has provided a full range of services as a local, regional, national, and international referral center for transplantations for selected malignancies:

Our goals include finding new and innovative treatments for malignancies and expanding the effectiveness and applicability of bone marrow transplantation through such means as biologic response modifiers, growth factors, and chemotherapeutic agents.

Protocols involving chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy for patients in remission or relapse are available using bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells from allogeneic, autologous and unrelated donors.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that transplant healthy bone marrow into a patient whose bone marrow is not working properly. A bone marrow transplant may be done for several conditions including hereditary blood diseases, hereditary metabolic diseases, hereditary immune deficiencies, and various forms of cancer.

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The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) provides a toll-free patient services lines to help transplant candidates, recipients, and family members understand organ allocation practices and transplantation data. You may also call this number to discuss problems you may be experiencing with your transplant center or the transplantation system in general. The toll-free patient services line number is 1-888-894-6361

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A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells.

Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells.

There are three kinds of bone marrow transplants:

Before the transplant, chemotherapy, radiation, or both may be given. This may be done in two ways:

A stem cell transplant is done after chemotherapy and radiation is complete. The stem cells are delivered into your bloodstream usually through a tube called a central venous catheter. The process is similar to getting a blood transfusion. The stem cells travel through the blood into the bone marrow. Most times, no surgery is needed.

Donor stem cells can be collected in two ways:

A bone marrow transplant replaces bone marrow that either is not working properly or has been destroyed (ablated) by chemotherapy or radiation.

Your doctor may recommend a bone marrow transplant if you have:

A bone marrow transplant may cause the following symptoms:

Possible complications of a bone marrow transplant depend on many things, including:

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Stem cell transplants -- from bone marrow or other sources -- can be an effective treatment for people with certain forms of cancer, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Stem cell transplants are also used for multiple myeloma and neuroblastoma, and theyre being studied as a treatment for other cancers, too.

Why do cancer patients consider these transplants? While high doses of chemotherapy and radiation can effectively kill cancer cells, they have an unwanted side effect: They can also destroy the bone marrow, where blood cells are made.

Overview

Approximately 1.5 million new cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2009,[1] and that number is expected to rise in 2010.[2] Many patients diagnosed with cancer will eventually require support from a family caregiver. In fact, family caregivers form the foundation of the health care system in the United States, supporting advances in treatment such as multimodality treatment protocols given in outpatient and home settings.[3] Definition: Who Is the Caregiver? Also...

Read the Overview article > >

The purpose of a stem cell transplant or a bone marrow transplant is to replenish the body with healthy cells and bone marrow when chemotherapy and radiation are finished. After a successful transplant, the bone marrow will start to produce new blood cells. In some cases, the transplant can have an added benefit; the new blood cells will also attack and destroy any cancer cells that survived the initial treatment.

While you may have heard about embryonic stem cells in the news, the stem cells used in cancer treatment are different. Theyre called hematopoietic stem cells.

Whats special about these cells? Unlike most cells, these stem cells have the ability to divide and form new and different kinds of blood cells. Specifically, they can create oxygen-carrying red blood cells, infection-fighting white blood cells, and clot-forming platelets.

Most stem cells are in the bone marrow, a spongy tissue inside bone. Other stem cells -- called peripheral blood stem cells -- circulate in the blood. Both types can be used in stem cell transplants for cancer treatment.

While stem cell transplants may be lifesaving, theyre not the right treatment for everyone. The process can be difficult and tedious. Since younger people often do better with these treatments, some doctors limit stem cell transplants to those under age 60 or 70.

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Bone Marrow Transplants and Stem Cell Transplants for Cancer Treatment

Adult Stem Cell Enhancer by Dr. Riordan, Chinese subtitle.
Consistently Increase of 50-100% Bone Marrow stem cells. Dr. Riordan Introduces Adult Stem cell Enhancer From RBC Life #39;s Stem-Kine with Dr. Clinton Howard an...

By: Adam Kee

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Adult Stem Cell Enhancer by Dr. Riordan, Chinese subtitle. - Video

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into the red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body, the white blood cells that fight infections, and the platelets that help with blood clotting.

If you have a bone marrow disease, there are problems with the stem cells or how they develop. Leukemia is a cancer in which the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. With aplastic anemia, the bone marrow doesn't make red blood cells. Other diseases, such as lymphoma, can spread into the bone marrow and affect the production of blood cells. Other causes of bone marrow disorders include your genetic makeup and environmental factors.

Symptoms of bone marrow diseases vary. Treatments depend on the disorder and how severe it is. They might involve medicines, blood transfusions or a bone marrow transplant.

Read more:
Bone Marrow Diseases: MedlinePlus - U.S. National Library of Medicine