Hematology

Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cells are created in the bone marrow. They grow into different types of blood cells that the patient needs, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. In a transplant, the patient's own stem cells are killed and then replaced by stem cells from the donor.

Usually, patients are given very strong doses of chemotherapy prior to receiving a stem cell transplant. However, because of the patient's condition, they have a high risk of experiencing life-threatening treatment-related side-effects. Recently, some doctors have begun to use chemotherapy that does not cause as many side-effects before patients receive a transplant. This research study adds CAMPATH 1H to a low-dose chemotherapy regimen, followed by an allogeneic stem cell transplantation. We want to see whether adding CAMPATH 1H to the transplant medications helps in treating the disease. We also want to see whether there are fewer life-threatening side-effects from the treatment. CAMPATH 1H is a drug that is still being studied. CAMPATH 1H stays active in the body for a long time after patients receive it, which means it may work longer at preventing graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) symptoms.