What Are the Dangers of Stem Cell & Bone Marrow Transplant?

Doctors resort to stem cell and bone marrow transplants to battle a difficult disease like cancer. Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation can destroy the bone marrow and stem cells while killing the cancer cells. Doctors transplant healthy cells from a donor to replaced the destroyed cells and get the patient's immune system working. But the lifesaving transplantation carries potential drawbacks.

Infection

• The destruction of the original bone marrow weakens the immune system and makes a patient susceptible to simple infections that a healthy immune system could fend off. Before grafting the new marrow, doctors may put patients on antibiotics to curb infection, according to the National Cancer Institute. Doctors must aggressively attack any infections because the body is too weak to fight them off alone.

Mucositis

• Some transplant patients suffer damage to the lining of the mouth and throat because of the toxicity of the chemotherapy before the transplant. This condition, known as mucositis, is not life-threatening but is painful and can make it difficult to drink and eat. Doctors treat mucositis with pain medication, oral rinses and intravenous infusions, according to the eMedicine website.

Graft-Versus-Host Disease

• Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) can occur if the new bone marrow turns the immune system against the patient's body, according to the National Cancer Institute. The recharged immune system sees the host body as foreign material that must be destroyed like a disease. Damage to the intestines, skin or liver can result. Immunosuppressant drugs fight GVHD but can result in such side effects as inflammation, scar tissue and fibrosis. The positive side of GVHD is called the graft-versus-tumor effect (GVT), in which the new immune system fights a tumor or other condition more intensely than the old immune system could have.

Other Complications

• The bone marrow transplant process can produce such short-term side effects as rashes, jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hair loss, mouth sores and fatigue. Long-term complications include cataracts, secondary cancers, infertility, and damage to the kidneys, liver, heart and lungs.