Preparing For Your Child's Transplant

After stem cells have been obtained (for an autologous transplant) or a donor has been selected and tested (for an allogeneic transplant), your child will have chemotherapy and possibly radiation. The purpose of high-dose chemotherapy and radiation is to destroy any remaining cancer and bone marrow cells, so the newly transplanted cells have room to grow. Destroying the bone marrow cells suppresses the immune system, which prevents the patient’s body from rejecting the transplanted stem cells. This treatment is sometimes referred to as a preparative regimen or conditioning therapy. The preparative regimen most often takes place in the hospital and takes a week to ten days to complete.