High-Dose Chemotherapy With Stem Cells

Some men with advanced or recurrent testicular cancer may undergo treatment with very high doses of chemotherapy. High doses of chemotherapy kill cancer cells but also destroy the bone marrow, which makes and stores blood cells. High doses of chemotherapy can only be given if patients undergo a bone marrow transplant. In a bone marrow transplant, bone marrow stem cells are removed from the patient before chemotherapy is administered. These cells are frozen temporarily and then thawed and returned to the patient through a needle (like a blood transfusion) after the high-dose chemotherapy has been administered.