Bone marrow transplants have been used successfully to cure some , such as . These transplants require high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation that destroy the patients bone marrow.

The bone marrow is full of blood stem cells, which are cancerous in patients with leukemia and other blood cancers. In bone marrow transplants, the cancerous stem cells are replaced with healthy stem cells from a donor.

Traditional bone marrow transplants are complex procedures and often-times result in the rejection of the donor cells by the patient’s immune system. This is known as GVHD (graft versus host disease). As much as 50% of traditional bone marrow transplants in people over the age of 50 result in GVHD.

The new procedure includes irradiating only the areas of the body with lymph-nodes and taking an immunosuppressive agent. Experimental trials showed a reduction in the development of acute GVHD in patients. Further research involving more patients and a longer follow-up time is currently in the works.