Hospitals move to capture marrow transplant business. (Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital, Providence Medical Center)

Two Portland hospitals want to get into new bone marrow transplant areas to keep patient revenues in town and to get a bigger share of the expanding cancer treatment market.

Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital and Providence Medical Center want to expand their adult cancer work. University Hospital wants to add allogeneic bone marrow transplants, which means using donated bone marrow, while Providence wants to do autologous transplants, which means using a patient's own bone marrow.

State regulators haven't yet decided whether the projects require state review, according to the Office of Health Policy.

While transplants are used to treat limited types of cancer now, their use in other areas, particularly breast cancer, is on the horizon.

If bone marrow transplants becomes an accepted form of treatment for breast cancer, "There'll be …