Total body irradiation is a form of radiotherapy used primarily as part of the preparative regimen for hematopoietic stem cell, or bone marrow, transplantation. As its name implies, it involves irradiating the entire body, though in modern practice the lungs are often partially shielded to lower the risk of radiation-induced lung injury. In the setting of bone marrow transplantation, total body irradiation destroys or suppresses the recipient own immune system to prevent immunologic rejection of the transplanted donor bone marrow or blood stem cells, and high doses can also eradicate residual cancer cells in the recipient, increasing the likelihood that the transplant will succeed.
Facts
FAQs
Is total body irradiation always part of the preparation for a stem cell transplant?
In the autologous transplant described by the American Cancer Society, it is only occasionally added to high-dose chemotherapy.
Not in the autologous transplant the American Cancer Society describes. Its account of the pre-transplant conditioning step, which takes 2 to 10 days, says patients get a high dose of chemotherapy and that occasionally people also have radiation therapy, called total body irradiation. This reports one organization's description of one transplant type and is not medical advice for any individual.
Connections
Treats
Total body irradiation is used as part of conditioning for bone marrow transplantation in leukemia.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
Total body irradiation (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_body_irradiation, lead sectionQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_body_irradiation, lead section
Total body irradiation (TBI) is a form of radiotherapy used primarily as part of the preparative regimen for haematopoietic stem cell (or bone marrow) transplantation.
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