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You have been given stem cells from someone else’s bone marrow.

The stem cells were removed from another person’s bone marrow beforehand. That person was related to you. The bone marrow is inside bone.

Stem cells are cells that can develop into different types of cells. For example, blood cells can develop from stem cells. Stem cells are found in the blood and inside some bones. Blood is made up of a liquid part and different blood cells, among other things. The blood cells include the red blood cells, the white blood cells and the platelets. The red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system. They fight pathogens. Platelets are important for blood clotting.

Before someone is given stem cells they are usually given a certain treatment. The aim of this treatment is to ensure that as many stem cells as possible in the person’s own body are destroyed. The bone marrow is sometimes irradiated to achieve this. There is a particularly large volume of stem cells in bone marrow. The person may also be given certain drugs. The treatment also destroys a part of the person’s own defense system.

When tissue is donated, the patient’s own tissue and the donated tissue need to be as similar to one another as possible. Otherwise the immune system may attack the donated tissue. For example, the immune system also fights altered body cells or disease pathogens. Therefore certain tissue characteristics are compared before tissue is donated. For example, one such characteristic of a tissue is the blood group. The characteristics of the donor’s tissue were slightly different to yours.

After a patient is given another person’s stem cells, they sometimes need to take certain drugs. The aim of these drugs is to ensure that the person’s own defense system does not combat these stem cells.