OMAHA, Neb. -- As the Nebraska Medical Center embarks on the 25th anniversary of its bone marrow and stem cell transplant program, one man has traveled 1,000 miles to benefit from the program.

Cancer survivor Alan Overbaugh will begin the intensive cancer-treatment procedure. Overbaugh lives in Florida. His oncologist sent him to Nebraska for a stem cell transplant. The doctor said chemotherapy wasn't enough and that Overbaugh needed a transplant to face a better chance of having a five-year remission. His chances of going into remission stand at 40 to 50 percent.

Program director Dr. James Armitage said more than 4,000 transplants have taken place in the past 25 years.

Stem cells, which reside in bone marrow, must be removed during cancer treatment because radiation kills them.

Bone marrow is injected back into the patient after treatment is administered. Armitage said some cancer sufferers would die if they didn't get the treatment.

Depending on the type of cancer being treated, the survival rate for those who undergo bone marrow transplant is as high as 60 percent.