Bone Marrow Preparation or Myeloablation

Conditioning, also known as bone marrow preparation or myeloablation, is treatment with high-dose chemo and/or radiation therapy. It’s the first step in the transplant process and typically takes a week or two. It’s done for one or more of these reasons: •To make room in the bone marrow for the transplanted stem cells •To suppress the patient’s immune system to lessen the chance of graft rejection •To destroy all of the cancer cells anywhere in the patient’s body The conditioning treatment is different for every transplant. Your individual treatment will be planned based on the type of cancer you have, the type of transplant, and any chemo or radiation therapy you have had in the past. If chemo is part of your treatment plan, it will be given in an intravenous (IV) line or as pills. If radiation therapy is planned, it’s given to the entire body (called total body irradiation or TBI). TBI may be given in a single treatment session or in divided doses over a few days.This phase of the transplant can be very uncomfortable because high treatment doses are used. Chemo and radiation side effects can make you sick, and it may take you months to fully recover. A very common problem is mouth sores that will need to be treated with strong pain medicines. You may also have nausea, vomiting, be unable to eat, lose your hair, and have lung or breathing problems. If you know what medicines your doctors will be using for conditioning, you can find out more about them in our Guide to Cancer Drugs, or call us for more information. Conditioning can also cause premature menopause in women and often makes both men and women sterile (unable to have children). Before you have a transplant, you need to discuss the transplant process and all its effects with your doctors. It also helps to talk to others who have already had transplants.