Autologous stem cell transplant

Undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant involves:

• Taking medicines to raise the number of stem cells in your blood. You get medicines that cause you to have more stem cells. The medicines also move the cells out of your bone marrow and into your blood. From there, it's easy to harvest them.

• Harvesting stem cells from your blood. To get your stem cells, you have a needle put into a vein in your arm to draw blood. A machine filters out the stem cells. The rest of your blood goes back to your body.

  Your stem cells are then frozen and stored for later use.

• Getting high doses of cancer treatment. This is called conditioning. During this process, you get high doses of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both to kill your cancer cells. The treatments you have depend on your condition.

  The cancer treatments used during the conditioning process carry a risk of side effects. Talk with your healthcare professional about what to expect from your treatment.

• Getting an infusion of stem cells. Your stem cells go back into your bloodstream through a vein. This is called an infusion. From your blood, the cells travel to your bone marrow. There, they begin making new blood cells.

After your autologous stem cell transplant, you stay under close medical care. You meet with your care team often to watch for side effects and check your body's response to the transplant.