Psychoanalytic aspects of bone marrow transplantation

Bone marrow transplantation is an extremely demanding intervention for the curative treatment of oncological conditions. Some patients that after having survived the high risk intervention and from a somatic point of view could be regarded as cured from an otherwise fatal disease–cancer of the blood system–did not show adequate psychosocial rehabilitation. This paper presents clinical issues and reviews findings on the role of defensive processes in the process of psychosocial rehabilitation.