From the first application of stem cell-based bone marrow transplant in 1968, the evolution of such procedure has reached the extent of being a prime treatment on leukemia cases (Ong, 2001 p. 487). Stem cell therapy involves risky considerations that need to be assessed prior to the application of such procedure.
First, bone marrow transplant requires either an Autologous donor (obtained from own person’s body prior to chemotherapy or infusion of high-dose radiation) or Allogenic Donor (donated by closely matched donor), but does not yet provide any guarantee of success.
In fact, according to Butts and Rich (2007), the success rates of bone marrow transplant are approximately 42% for autologous donors, but increases to the maximum rate of 85% for allogenic donors (p. 177). Autologous donors risk the patient for potential anaphylactic shock or hemolytic reactions especially if the receiver’s body rejects the transplanted stem cell. Another condition is to assess the recipient’s health status prior to the procedure, since such procedure can resort to variety of immunologic responses (e. g.
severe infection due to decreased cellular immunity, Graft-versus-host disease – GVHD, veno-occlusive disease, and hormonal disturbances) that can consequently reverse the entire process and result to death (Shargel, Mutnick and Souney, 2006 p. 1274). Despite of these risks, such procedure is still administered as a last-resort treatment to replace the extensively damaged marrow due to chemotherapy.
However, philosophical naturalists and medical ethicists question the appropriateness of replacing cellular components of the body through transplant methodology as stem-cell cultivation.