Vital Transplant Concepts

The best therapy option for a patient who has a hematologic malignancy (leukemia or lymphoma) or a life-threatening immune system or inherited metabolic system disorder may be a hematopoietic cell transplant.

A transplant replaces a patient’s diseased marrow with healthy hematopoietic cells. The transplanted cells allow the marrow to function properly, that is, regenerate healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

As a payor, it is helpful to understand the transplant process and the factors affecting better transplant outcomes.

• Cell sources and transplant types – Learn about the sources of hematopoietic cells (bone marrow, PBSC and umbilical cord blood) and the types of transplants (autologous and allogeneic). 
• At a glance: Transplantation – Understand the entire unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation process, beginning with the decision to transplant, the search for and procurement of hematopoietic cells, the transplant, and the recovery and long-term follow-up.
• Transplant timing and diseases treated – Learn how the timing of a transplant for each disease affects transplant outcomes.
• HLA tissue typing – Read about human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue typing and its importance in transplant outcomes. 
• Comparison with solid organ transplantation – Understand how a hematopoietic cell transplant from an unrelated donor or cord blood unit differs significantly from a solid organ transplant in availability of the organ or cells, transplant timing, and collection of the organ or cells.
• Searching for an unrelated donor or cord blood unit – Learn how HLA experts identify the best hematopoietic cells for a patient, beginning with a preliminary search followed by a formal search.