A member of the American Society on Clinical Oncology and the American College of Physicians, Ram Kancherla, MD, is a highly respected oncologist with over 20 years of experience in medicine. Dr. Ram Kancherla serves as managing partner at Hudson Valley Cancer Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. The center provides a range of innovative cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, infusions, and stem cell transplants.

Often, stem cell transplant is done as part of cancer treatment to restore the immune system's ability to eradicate harmful cancer cells, facilitate damaged tissue repair, and act as a cellular courier of therapeutic drugs to fight cancer tissues in the body. Stem cells are a category of cells capable of developing into different types of body cells. Stem cell transplant often involves harvesting some stem cells from the donor's blood for the recipient's treatment.

Stem cell transplant is commonly done after high-dose chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Chemotherapy is a therapy that uses toxic drugs to destroy cancer cells. Radiotherapy involves using high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors. Both treatments can cause damage to some healthy cells and also hinder the body's ability to heal on its own. Stem cell transplant can counter these effects and prevent potential complications.

While stem cell transplants don't usually destroy cancer cells and essentially serve as an additional treatment to improve outcomes, there are a few exceptions. Stem cells directly destroy malignancies in multiple myeloma and some types of blood cancer.