Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation
For more than 30 years, John Theurer Cancer Center has provided lifesaving blood and marrow stem cell transplantation. We have one of the largest and most experienced transplant programs in the United States. We are among the top ten programs in the country, performing a total of more than 8,000 blood and marrow stem cell transplants and around 400 every year. This experience translates to better outcomes for you.
Conditions We Treat
Advances in stem cell transplant have made this approach a viable option for people with blood-related cancers and benign (noncancerous) blood disorders, including older patients and those with multiple medical issues.
- Acute myelogenous and lymphoblastic leukemia
- Chronic myelogenous and lymphocytic leukemia
- Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Multiple myeloma
- Amyloidosis
- Aplastic anemia and bone marrow failure
- Germ cell tumors
- Hemoglobinopathies (including thalassemia and sickle cell disease)
- Myeloproliferative neoplasms
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
Your Team of Experts
Your blood and marrow stem cell transplant team features doctors with decades of experience, including specialists who focus specifically on leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. The teams meet weekly to develop treatment plans for each patient.
Our advanced practice nurses, case managers, nurse navigators, social workers, pharmacists and registered dieticians all specialize in the care of transplant patients. In fact, many of our nurses have certification in oncology and stem cell transplantation.
Types of Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplants
John Theurer Cancer Center performs all types of blood and marrow stem cell transplants, including:
Allogeneic transplants are stem cells from a donor
Autologous transplants use stem cells from the patient
We offer special expertise in:
- Bloodless (no transfusion) for autologous transplants
- Matched and mismatched transplants from unrelated donors
- Partial match (haploidentical) transplant – stem cells from someone who partially matches you
- Umbilical cord blood transplants
Expertise in Photopheresis
One of the biggest challenges with stem cell transplant is the risk of graft-versus-host disease, a complication in which immune cells from the donor attack normal tissue of the recipient.
John Theurer Cancer Center offers expertise in a therapy called photopheresis to treat graft-versus-host disease. We remove some of your white blood cells, treat them with a medication called methoxsalen and then expose them to ultraviolet light. Once returned to your bloodstream, these supercharged white blood cells help your immune system fight graft-versus-host disease.
Our Research and Clinical Trials
At John Theurer Cancer Center, you may have the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial of new and exciting approaches to stem cell transplant. Our research has a strong focus on reducing the complications of transplant and also lowering the risk of disease recurrence. We are the first in the world to combine checkpoint inhibitors (drugs that inhibit the proteins cancer cells use to evade detection by the immune system) after transplantation, at a time when the immune system has the best opportunity to eliminate any remaining cancer cells.
