BMT can be classified according to the origin of the cells (peripheral or bone marrow); the donor of the cells (autologous or allogenic); and the intensity of the conditioning (myeloablative or reduced intensity conditioning).2
Stem cells are derived from one of two sources: firstly, from the patient (an autologous transplant) or from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched donor (an allogenic transplant) such as a twin or other relation (the better the quality of the match, e.g. identical twin, the lower the risk of complication). An allogenic transplant can also come from a matched unrelated donor (MUD).3 The less well matched the source of the transplant, the more intensive the conditioning that occurs pre-transplantation. This leads to a higher rate of complications; therefore, allogenic transplants are associated with a higher rate of morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, more intense immunosuppression is required with allogenic transplants to prevent rejection
