Corel Medical Series: Cancer/Corel Medical Series: Cancer.iso/mac/Program/p12.dxr/00082_Field_SRC.p12.A.12.txt

Text File | 1997-01-28 | 2KB | 19 lines

• Pneumonia  The lung seems to be the organ most sensitive to the adverse effects of transplantation. It has
  been suggested that the lung is to bone marrow transplantation what the quarterback's knee is to the football
  game. A lot can go wrong. The lung can be injured because of infection, because of the toxic effect of high-dose
  chemotherapy and radiation or because of some unknown cause.
        When severe pneumonia develops after a bone marrow transplant, death often—but not always—results.
  The most common pneumonia in these cases is caused by cytomegalovirus, a particularly severe pneumonia
  that can develop several months after the transplant. If it does develop, it is often in association with another
  serious complication, graft-versus-host disease .
• Graft-versus-host disease  After an allogeneic bone marrow transplant, the immunologically active cells in
  the new marrow can recognize the "host" organism—the patient receiving the transplant—as foreign and go on
  the attack. The most commonly damaged organs are the skin, liver and intestines.
      Medicines can be given after the transplant to reduce the possibility of graft-versus-host disease. The
  marrow can also be treated outside the body to remove the cells that cause graft-versus-host disease (T cell
  depletion). If the condition nevertheless develops, it can occur soon after the return of white cells (acute
  graft-versus-host disease) or much later (chronic graft-versus-host disease).
      The two types are similar in some ways, though each has distinctive features. The acute form often doesn't
  last long but can be quite severe. If it is severe, the prognosis for survival is very poor. Chronic
  graft-versus-host disease almost always requires therapy, and most patients recover. One positive note is that