Definition:
Apheresis is the collection of peripheral blood stem cells before they can be transplanted into the body in a stem cell transplant. Blood from the patient is channeled through a machine that is similar to a dialysis machine. In it, stem cells are collected and the remaining cells put back into circulating blood. Collection of cells for an autologous stem cell transplant may take from one to five days, depending on the amount of stem cells the patient has in their blood.
