The parents of a child with cancer tell the nurse that a bone marrow transplant (BMT) may be necessary. What information should the nurse recognize as important when discussing this with the family?

Question

a. BMT should be done at the time of diagnosis.
b. Parents and siblings of the child have a 25% chance of being a suitable donor.
c. If BMT fails, chemotherapy or radiotherapy will need to be continued.
d. Finding a suitable donor involves matching antigens from the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system.

Answer 1

ANS: D
The most successful BMTs come from suitable HLA-matched donors. The timing of a BMT depends on the disease process involved. It usually follows intensive high-dose chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Usually, parents only share approximately 50% of the genetic material with their children. A one in four chance exists that two siblings will have two identical haplotypes and will be identically matched at the HLA loci. The decision to continue chemotherapy or radiotherapy if BMT fails is not appropriate to discuss with the parents when planning the BMT. That decision will be made later.