What to expect from an allogeneic stem cell transplant for chronic myeloid leukaemia

The transplant team reviews your chronic myeloid leukaemia response, treatment history, blood counts, organ function, infections, and donor match. Conditioning treatment prepares the marrow and helps control abnormal cells. Donor blood-forming stem cells are infused through a central line. They then settle in the marrow and begin producing new blood cells; this process is called engraftment. Low counts during the early period can lead to fatigue, infection risk, anaemia, and bleeding, so monitoring and transfusion support are common.

Donor immune cells can help control leukaemia, but they may also cause graft-versus-host disease. Preventive medicines and regular examinations help the team identify changes affecting the skin, gut, liver, mouth, or lungs. Blood tests and disease-specific monitoring show how the graft and leukaemia are responding.

Before admission, organise a reliable caregiver, transport, medicine storage, meals, and a plan for follow-up visits. Use careful hand hygiene and follow advice about food, visitors, pets, and masks. Take immune-suppressing medicines at the prescribed times and ask before taking any new product. Keep a symptom diary and bring all medicines to appointments. Pace activity, protect your skin and mouth, and avoid driving or returning to work until the team confirms that your strength, counts, and medicines make it appropriate.

Seek urgent advice for fever, chills, breathlessness, chest pain, confusion, sudden weakness, bleeding, severe headache, persistent vomiting or diarrhoea, or inability to drink. Call about a new rash, mouth ulcers, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, reduced urine, or worsening abdominal pain. Do not wait for a scheduled blood test: infection, graft-versus-host disease, and medicine effects may need treatment quickly.

Ask what disease response is needed before transplant, whether any chronic myeloid leukaemia medicines continue around the procedure, how donor matching affects the plan, and how relapse monitoring will work. Also ask about conditioning side effects, graft-versus-host disease prevention, caregiver duties, fertility, vaccinations, and the process for reporting symptoms after discharge.