Oct 2, 2008 10:19 am US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Surviving Bone Marrow Cancer
CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez Gives Latest Info On Procedure That Is 'Improving Quality Of lives'
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
When it comes to cancer, chemotherapy can be a lifesaver. Yet sometimes the drugs are so powerful they can put the patient's life at risk. Doctors now have a way to help the body handle large and potentially lifesaving doses of chemo.
CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez has more in today's Health Watch.
When cancer patient Laurice Goodin needed a bone marrow transplant she didn't have to look far for a donor. She was able to do it herself.
Laurice was fighting the blood cancer multiple myeloma.
"Unless you have a positive attitude, you're not going to make it," Goodin spoke with Dr. Gomez.
Strong doses of chemotherapy could get rid of the cancer but it would also damage her blood and bone marrow, keeping her from producing vital blood cells and platelets.
There's a new machine that is proving to be the solution for her and many others like her. Before chemotherapy, it removes stem cells from a patient's own blood removed and stored. After high doses of chemo the cells are then infused back into the body and bone marrow.
The transplant allows doctors to be more aggressive with treatment and studies have shown patients have better chance of survival as a result.
In some cases, the cancer can even be cured.
"For other conditions it significantly prolongs survival and survival without disease," said Dr. Lyle Feinstein of the Memorial Cancer Institute.
That's the case for Laurice.
"It will improve the quality of life."
Because the stem cells come from Laurice herself, she doesn't have to look for a matching donor or take anti-rejection drugs. And her immune system should recover much faster. The one negative, however, is that because they are her own cells, the chance of the cancer coming back is higher.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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