General Information About Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT)
Rationale for HCT
Blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) or HCT is a procedure that involves infusion of cells (hematopoietic stem cells; also called hematopoietic progenitor cells) that reconstitute the hematopoietic system of a patient. The infusion of hematopoietic stem cells generally follows a preparative regimen given to the patient consisting of agents designed to do the following:
- Suppress the patient's immune system to prevent rejection.
- Intensively treat malignant cells in patients with cancer.
HCT is currently used in the following three clinical scenarios:
- Treatment of malignancies.
- Replacement or modulation of an absent or poorly functioning hematopoietic or immune system.
- Treatment of genetic diseases in which expression of the affected gene product in circulating hematopoietic cells alone is adequate to produce a clinically meaningful result.