Blood & Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation at University of Colorado Hospital
Why Choose University of Colorado Hospital for Your Blood and Marrow Transplant?
Our dedicated team of doctors, nurses and other staff specialize in blood cancers and blood and marrow transplantation. Each newly diagnosed or relapsed case is discussed by the team at a weekly tumor board meeting. They review your test results and plan the best approach to your care.
For transplant patients, we also have specially designed inpatient and outpatient facilities that provide the safest protection for people with weakened immune systems.
The University of Colorado Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Rocky Mountain region. This means we are recognized as one of the leading centers in the nation for cancer research, treatment, prevention and education.
Our doctors and scientists develop innovative treatments for cancer, and our patients benefit by having access to these and other promising treatments before they are available elsewhere.
Our NCI status and the fact that we’re an academic medical center also mean that:
- We manage the most complicated cases in the region with advanced treatments and approaches to care.
- We are continually participating in clinical trials, or studies, that use volunteers to test new cancer drugs, treatments or new uses of approved drugs or treatments for hematologic malignancies.
We also are one of seven national members of the LIVESTRONG Lance Armstrong Foundation Survivorship Center of Excellence Network, which is a joint effort to:
- Provide essential cancer survivorship services.
- Pncrease the effectiveness of survivorship care through research, development of new services and sharing of best practices.
- Harness the expertise and experience of leading medical centers to significantly increase progress in the field of cancer survivorship.
What is Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation (BMT)?
Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation allows cells that have been damaged during high doses of chemotherapy and radiation to be replaced. Chemotherapy and radiation are used to treat cancer by killing cancerous cells, but they can damage blood cells and cells in the bone marrow. That can lead to life-threatening side effects including low blood counts, infection and bleeding.
With a blood or marrow stem cell transplant, the patient is "rescued" by receiving fresh bone marrow that allows new, healthy cells to grow. BMT is most commonly used in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. There are two main types of transplants:
Autologous – using a patient’s own blood or marrow
Allogeneic – using a donor’s blood or marrow