About the Autologous Stem Cell Transplant

The managing partner of Hudson Valley Cancer Center since 2002, Ram Kancherla runs the administrative and finance roles, alongside attending to the patients. A Hudson Valley Magazine Top Doctor selected by peers for several years, Ram Kancherla mainly focuses on hematology, oncology, and, more specifically, autologous stem cell transplant and immunotherapy.

Also known as the autologous bone marrow transplant, the transplant uses healthy blood stem cells from the individual’s body to replace a diseased or damaged bone marrow. Using the own body cells over a donor eliminates the chances of incompatibility, a significant risk, and a hurdle in repairing damaged bone marrow cells. A transplant is an option if the body produces enough healthy bone marrow cells, which are collected, frozen, and stored.

The typical candidates for the transplant are individuals about to undergo high doses of chemotherapy, and radiation, especially cancer patients, to help preserve the marrow before tentative damage from the treatment. The typical user cases include treating myeloma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and plasma cell disorders.

Before the transplant, the individual should expect the medication to increase the stem cells in the blood. For the collection, machines filter out the stem cells from blood drawn from the arm. The filtered blood is returned to the body. The stem cells are preserved for later use. After the chemotherapy or radiation kills the cancer cells, the stem cells are infused back into the bloodstream, where they travel to the bone marrow to create new healthy blood cells.