What does ABMT mean in TRANSPLANTATION

Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant (ABMT) is a medical procedure used to treat various diseases, including cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. In this procedure, bone marrow stem cells are taken from the patient's (autologous) body, processed and then re-injected into the patient following chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

An ABMT begins with harvesting healthy stem cells from the patient's own blood or bone marrow that will later be injected back into them after they have undergone chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The collected bone marrow stem cells are purified and frozen until needed for injection back into the patient's body. The process helps rebuild healthy blood cells in the body and can be used to treat a variety of conditions.

ABMT has been found to be successful in treating certain types of leukemias, lymphomas, myelodysplastic syndromes, multiple myeloma, immune deficiencies and some other cancers like breast cancer. Patients undergoing autologous transplants need to be in good health with no complications during the donation process otherwise they may not qualify for it.

As with any medical procedure there are certain potential risks associated with ABMT including infection, organ damage due to radiation exposure as well as graft-versus-host disease where donor immune cells attack the recipient's tissues upon introduction back into their bodies. Additionally there is also a risk of infertility due to damage to reproductive organs when undergoing high doses of chemotherapy prior to ABMT which may eliminate chances for future pregnancy for some patients.

Collection of stem cells from either blood or bone marrow may cause mild discomfort depending on how much material needs to collected however overall most patients find it tolerable.