What is the success rate of bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia?

Depends: The bone marrow transplant team at each transplant center can give details of how many of their transplants "take" and how many are "rejected" after transplantation. The numbers may be different for stem cells from umbilical cord blood compared to stem cells from donor bone marrow. The better the match between donor and patient, the less likely a rejection will occur.

Very good...: A number of studies have reported roughly a thalassemia-free success rate of ~80%. If using a full intensity preparative regimen, ~5% can die because of transplant-related complications. In 2007, a small study reported that using a reduced intensity regimen could achieve the same thalassemia cure rates with no transplant-related deaths. Success depends on doing transplant in young patients.