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Cancer dad Tony Ferguson vows to be home soon

Oct 11 2009 Sunday Sun

Simple, but life-saving op

A BONE marrow transplant – otherwise known as Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation – is when healthy marrow is taken from one person and given to another, to help them produce healthy new blood cells of their own.

The patient’s marrow is first killed off with drugs or radiation, and then the new stem cells are introduced.

When the marrow is taken from the donor, they are sometimes harvested directly from the red marrow, often under general anaesthetic and it’s so non-invasive that the donor doesn’t even need stitches afterwards.

Another option is to administer certain drugs that stimulate the release of stem cells from the bone marrow into circulating blood. An IV is inserted into the donor’s arm, and the stem cells are filtered out of the blood. The procedure is similar to donating blood or platelets. For more information on donating blood and bone marrow visit www.blood.co.uk.

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