UH offers outpatient bone marrow transplants

University Hospitals is offering outpatient bone marrow transplants for Multiple Myeloma patients.

Multiple Myeloma is a rare blood cancer that affects multiple parts of the body.

Dr. Leland Metheny, a hematologist at University Hospitals, spoke to Good Morning Cleveland anchor Tiffany Tarpley about the benefits of outpatient bone marrow transplants.

"It keeps the patients at home and keeps the patients in kind of doing their normal activities of daily life," said Metheny. "It's more resource-friendly, you don't need 24-hour care from a nursing or medical assistant."

Outpatient bone marrow transplants also reduce the risk of patients being exposed to healthcare-associated infections.

Metheny believes this type of treatment will be the future of cancer care.

"Cell therapies are coming to the forefront and giving those cell therapies as outpatient is really where we're going to have to expand our clinical expertise and demonstrate safety for those patients," said Metheny.

Metheny believes University Hospitals in the first hospital in Ohio to offer outpatient bone marrow transplants. So far, five local patients have benefited from the outpatient treatment.