Monitoring of bone marrow transplant engraftment

Bone marrow transplantation is used as a primary treatment for many diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, and inborn errors of metabolism. The procedure involves ablation of the recipient's bone marrow by chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, followed by transplantation of harvested bone marrow. In autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT), the patient's own marrow is harvested and treated to remove malignant cells before it is replaced into the patient. In allogeneic BMT, bone marrow is obtained from a donor who is a close antigenic match to the patient. In either case, the goal of BMT is full, permanent replacement of the recipient's original bone marrow by donor hematopoietic elements.