[Hopeful]

Originally Posted by Relentless Against SAA

AAteen,
Thanks for answering.
We get different opinions from different members of our transplant team. The doc has said that he would like to use peripheral blood for stem cells because Aplastic Anemia patients have issues with rejection. We hear complete opposite opinions from 2 of the nurse transplant coordinators who work with him (I have never pointed this out to any of them). The coordinators say that in Aplastic Anemia patients you prefer marrow over peripheral blood as a source of stem cells. There is less GVHD with marrow donation. In Leukemia Some GVHD is good to keep the Leukemia in check but with AA you want to avoid all GVHD. The two coordinators say that there should be communication with the donor as to why marrow is really beneficial to the patient. Both coordinators say that many donors understand they are saving a life and are willing to donate marrow, not all, but many.

I have also read from a variety of sources that marrow is preferred to peripheral blood for AA. I know some centers don't want the extra hassle and will only do peripheral blood. However, I recall seeing graphs where problem-free survival was ~10% better with marrow transplants than peripheral blood for AA patients.