The article also does not mention the type of transplant: autologous or allogeneic. As a recipient of an auto-transplant as part of cancer treatment, I perhaps

The article also does not mention the type of transplant: autologous or allogeneic. As a recipient of an auto-transplant as part of cancer treatment, I perhaps can speak to the complexity of the procedure and the risks. For certain types of lymphomas, the best chance for life-long remission is through a stem-cell transplant. - The patient first undergoes conventional chemotherapy to attempt to achieve remission. - The patient then performs a barrage of tests to ensure that they are healthy enough to withstand the transplant procedure. - The patient has a Hickman catheter installed. The catheter is a device with tube into the superior vena cava (one of the main return veins into the heart) and two external ports for drawing and returning blood and administering fluids and drugs. - The patient performs mobilization and collection. During mobilization, the patient self-injects a growth factor drug that causes the body to produce extra hematopoietic stem cells and release them into the blood stream. During collection, the patient is connected to a centrifuge machine and the stem cells are collected and preserved. - The patient enters the hospital for the transplant procedure. High dose chemotherapy is administered. For cancer treatment, the purpose of the chemotherapy is to destroy any cancer cells remaining in the body. Even though the patient may be in remission from first-line chemo, some cancers can return from just a few remaining cancer cells. A side-effect of the high-dose chemotherapy is the destruction of the body's ability to produce blood. - After chemotherapy, the patient's own stem cells are injected. Within 7 to 10 days, these cells will recolonize the bone marrow, "engraft" and begin producing blood. - Once the patient's blood cell counts are on the rise and the patient is otherwise stable, he is sent home. The patient typically needs live-in care at home for about 30 days (the patient's blood counts are still very low and a normally trivial injury from cooking or cleaning could be deadly). The risks of the procedure are from the high-dose chemotherapy and the fragile state of the immune system after the transplant. After a transplant, _all_ immune memory is erased and the patient is as a newborn as far as immune system capability is concerned. The risks include: - Chemo related organ damage to heart, lungs, kidneys and liver. - Chemo-induced pneumonitis. - Graft failure (e.g. failure of the stem cells to recolonize the bone marrow). - Infection (since the immune system is destroyed during the process, a normally minor infection can be deadly). According to my transplant doctor, the auto-transplant process has about a 2% risk of death. The benefits are that the probability of a cancer relapse is significantly reduced (say 90% risk to 50% risk). For the patient, the process is very difficult and recovery time is approximately one year. (edited for formatting)