When a decision is made about if bone marrow transplant benefits your condition, certain factors are taken into consideration, such as if the disease is under control, presence of active infections and functioning of vital organs. Most appropriate time for bone marrow transplant differs according to type of disease.

There are overall age limitations recognized for the bone marrow transplantation, but the overall health of the patient is more important than the age. Even if the age of the patient allows transplantation, dysfunctions of the vital organs may contraindicate the transplantation, and the age may not be an important barrier especially for the candidates of autologous transplantation.

Acceptable age limit for donors is 55. An older person may become a donor only in necessary circumstances, if health status of the donor allows.

Quality of the healthcare service rendered after the transplant is one of the most important factors regarding the success of the bone marrow transplant. Success of a transplant is influenced by certain factors such as if the disease is under control, overall health of recipient, potential infection after transplant, presence of complications (i.e. bleeding) and the status of match between the recipient and the donor.

The optimal timing of bone marrow transplantation varies for each disease. Optimal time for transplant is the first remission for acute leukemia with poor risk factors, the second remission after relapse in many cases of lymphoma, and right after the multiple myeloma is taken under control. However, these conditions are influenced by other factors, such as availability of donor, the extent the disease is controlled, risk factors and overall health of the patient. Your physician will inform you about the most appropriate time for your transplant procedure.

Bone Marrow Transplant Center of Bayındır Söğütözü Hospital has a contract with State Social Security Institution (SGK). According to this agreement, costs of preparation procedures, the transplant procedure and follow-up and treatments after the transplantation are paid by your institution and you will not be claimed extra fee for any item.

Your current disease and availability of a donor influence the type of your transplantation. This decision will be made by the transplant team and be informed to you along with the potential benefits and risks.

Healthy adults, who older than 18 years, can donate bone marrow with their own consent. Consent of parents is required for younger individuals and children. Patients with cancer, hereditary blood disease or blood-borne diseases (such as HIV, HBV and HCV) and drug addicts cannot be donor.

If no related match donor can be identified, your doctor will contact national bone marrow banks to search unrelated donors. If this option also fails, transplantation from a partially matched donor is possible, provided the procedure is approved by the transplant team.

For bone marrow transplant, the compatibility between the recipient and the donor is determined to the extent HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) matches.

The stem cells used for the bone marrow transplantation are harvested in two ways. In the first approach, the bone marrow is aspirated from the hip bone under anesthesia in the operating theater. Depending on the amount collected, the blood counts may temporarily decreased, but they restore to normal ranges within 1 to 2 weeks and they are not irreversible. In the second method, the donor is administered a certain drug to mobilize stem cells from the bone marrow and they are collected using a device without need to anesthesia. No adverse effect of this stem cell mobilizing drug on the donor can be demonstrated to date. Blood counts may temporarily decrease after this procedure, but their level will be completely restored to normal ranges quickly.

No irreversible postoperative harm occurred in donors following thousands of transplantations, wherein these medicines have been globally used for approximately 20 years. White cell count increases while the medicine is administered and for several days after the procedure is completed, but they are restored to normal ranges thereafter. Bone ache can develop on the days the medicines are administered, but it can be managed with simple pain killers.

Depending on the conditioning regimen performed for bone marrow transplant, the patient may face infertility after the transplant procedure. This fact and potential solutions, such as storage of sperm or egg, are informed to you by the transplant doctor before the transplantation.

Blood type compatibility is not required for the bone marrow donor. If the blood type does not match, the product is treated in certain processes before it is infused to the patient. Following a successful transplantation, the blood type of the recipient will transform into the blood type of the donor.

Your doctor will first apply to TÜRKÖK to search for an unrelated donor. Moreover, there are further 2 more bone marrow banks in our country to search for unrelated donor; one in Ankara University (TRAN) and one in İstanbul University (TRIS). This application can be done by the supervisor physicians of the center who are primarily responsible for the patient and will perform the unrelated donor bone marrow transplant. Personal application of patients is not accepted.

Full match between the recipient and the donor is a desirable factor for the bone marrow transplantation. For the transplantation, the primary physician informs you and obtains consent before the stem cells are transplanted from a non-full matching donor. Although there are inter-patient variations in terms of risks and expected benefits, it is possible to transplant the bone marrow of a non-full matching donor.

After conditioning regimen is given, the prerequisite is the maturation of stem cells to produce blood cells This period usually lasts 10 to 20 days depending on the type of transplantation, the preparation regimen and the quality of stem cells as well as overall health of the patient. Mean length of stay in the transplantation unit is 2 to 4 weeks in average.

Immune system of the patient is severely suppressed especially in the first year after allogeneic transplantation. You might not be able to work in this period. You can resume your ordinary life in the subsequent period, should strenuous physical activities are strictly avoided.

No. A second transplant is possible for patients, who were previously transplanted bone marrow (from same or other donor), although it is associated with certain risks.

It is a very important treatment that is associated with life-threatening risks depending on the current disease, conditioning regimen of the planned transplantation (autologous or allogeneic) and the complications, which may occur after the transplant. Although the allogeneic transplantation aims to cure the disease, the risk of recurrence is always valid. Long-term complications may emerge after the transplant, including Graft versus Host Disease that may influence the quality of life.