Oncology and Transplant: A Partnership to Cure Cancer
Members of the Bone Marrow Transplantation malignancy team work closely with leukemia / lymphoma, solid tumor and brain tumor oncologists to offer the best curative options for patients with refractory (hard-to-treat) malignancies or relapsed malignancies.
We have become a leading international referral center providing even the most complex of allogeneic (donor) transplants for patients with hard-to-treat leukemias, lymphomas and myelodysplastic syndromes. We have developed an expanding expertise providing autologous (own stem cells) transplant options for patients with refractory solid tumors such as neuroblastoma and brain cancer.
Finally, we actively engage in partnerships with large international consortia like the Children’s Oncology Group and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research to provide the most modern approaches to curing childhood cancer.
Malignant diseases that can be treated with allogeneic (donor) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation include:
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
- Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
- Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
- Refractory lymphoma
The following are malignant diseases that can be treated with autologous (own stem cells) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, sometimes referred to as high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell rescue:
- Advanced stage neuroblastoma
- Some solid tumors such as relapsed refractory Ewing’s sarcoma and germ cell tumors
- Medulloblastoma and other certain brain tumors
- Refractory lymphoma
Research
Research is an important part of the Bone Marrow Transplantation program’s focus on treating refractory malignancies. We are working hard with other members of the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute to introduce novel therapeutic approaches to our patients. In the last decade, new cell-based immunotherapies have emerged that provide an additional treatment strategy at cancer
CAR T Cells:
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered T cell technology is one of the most exciting areas of emerging treatment for cancer. Special immune cells called T cells can be harvested from a patient’s peripheral blood. These can then be manipulated in a laboratory to express CARs on their surface, rendering the CAR-positive T cell highly effective at attacking leukemia.
Our team and other members of the Cancer Blood and Disease Institute have partnered with industry to provide additional options to some of our patients with refractory leukemia. A variety of treatment platforms are either currently available or actively in development.
