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Cure for Sickle Cell Anemia

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, bone marrow transplant is currently the only cure for sickle cell anemia. The procedure is not, however, suitable for all patients; suitability depends on age, severity of the disease, and donor availability. While the majority of bone marrow transplants are successful in curing sickle cell anemia, the procedure does carry some significant risks.

  1. How Bone Marrow Transplant Works

    • Bone marrow, the soft tissue inside your bones, is responsible for producing red blood cells. In people with sickle cell anemia, the bone marrow produces sickle-shaped red blood cells as a result of defective hemoglobin. A bone marrow transplant aims to replace the bone marrow in a sickle cell patient with bone marrow from a healthy donor. When successful, the new bone marrow causes the patient's body to produce normal red blood cells, effectively curing the patient of sickle cell anemia, according to Kaiser Permanente.

    Eligible Candidates

    • According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, bone marrow transplants are only a viable option for about seven percent of sickle cell anemia patients. People considered for transplant are typically children under the age of 17 who have severe sickle cell symptoms but haven't yet suffered significant organ damage.

    Donor Issues

    • Eligible patients must also have a genetically matched donor in order to undergo a bone marrow transplant. As the National Marrow Donor Program emphasizes, siblings are usually the best donors, as siblings have a 25 percent chance of being a genetic match. Sibling matches are complicated, however, by the fact that sickle cell anemia is inherited, meaning that the chances of having a sibling that is healthy and a genetic match are somewhat smaller. If no family member is a match, patients may be able to find a suitable donor through the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. Finding a well-matched donor is very important; as the University of Maryland points out, the risk of complications increases when patient and donor are less than an ideal match.

    Success Rates

    • According to Kaiser Permanente, bone marrow transplants cure sickle cell anemia in about 85 percent of transplant cases. At least 10 percent of transplant recipients survive but are not cured of sickle cell anemia.

    Risks

    • According to Kaiser Permanente, bone marrow transplants carry significant risks. A patient's immune system may attack the transplanted cells, leading to transplant failure, or the transplanted cells may attack the patient's organs, a condition known as graft-versus-host-disease. Other complications, such as infections, seizures and infertility, may also occur as a result of the transplant. About 5 percent of transplant recipients die.

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