What are the treatments for aplastic anemia?

The main goal of aplastic anemia treatment is to increase the number of healthy cells in your blood (blood count). When your blood counts go up you are less likely to need blood from a donor (transfusion), your quality of life becomes better and your symptoms are not as bad.

Your doctor will look at several issues to find the best treatment plan for you. These include how severe your symptoms are, your age, other conditions or diseases you have and whether someone is willing and able to donate matching bone marrow to you (preferably a family member).

There are several treatments and treatment approaches your doctor may consider. These include:

1. Supportive care helps manage the symptoms of your aplastic anemia. Its goals are to increase blood counts and treat infections. Supportive care treatments typically include blood transfusions and antibiotics, and may include growth factors or iron chelation for some patients.
2. Immunosuppressive therapy lowers your body's immune response. This therapy uses medicines to keep the immune system from attacking the bone marrow stem cells. ATG (antithymocyte globulin) and cyclosporine are the medicines typically used.
3. Bone marrow transplantation replaces your unhealthy blood-forming stem cells with healthy ones from a donor.

Clinical trials, also called research studies, may also be an option for patients who do not have success with the other treatment options.