Working together for children with cancer

August 18, 2009
Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Children's Hospital Boston recognized as leading provider of unrelated donor stem cell transplants

Stem cells in a cooler, being transported to the transplant unit where a patient will receive them.

Stem cells in a cooler, being transported to the transplant unit where a patient will receive them.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston, was one of only three large stem cell transplant programs nationwide that consistently outperformed the expected one-year survival rate for unrelated donor stem cell transplants in the United States, according to an independent report from the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

The program had the highest one-year survival rate for the 14 centers that performed more than 150 unrelated donor transplant cases between January 2002 and December 2006, and the third highest survival rate for the 26 centers that performed at least 100 unrelated donor transplants cases during that same period.

"This rating reflects years of very hard work on the part of each member of our staff," said Joseph H. Antin, MD, chief of the Adult Stem Cell Transplantation Program and medical director of the unrelated donor program at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's. "All of the members of our program are committed to both research and patient care. These two missions are inseparable. Our research has measurably improved the lives of our patients and resulted in the recognition of our program as a national leader."

CIBMTR oversees the Stem Cell Therapeutic Outcomes Database and each year conducts a center-specific survival analysis of the transplant centers in the U.S. that are affiliated with the National Marrow Donor Program. The current report reviewed 8,847 unrelated donor transplant cases that were conducted at 122 centers.

The overall one-year survival rate for all of the centers reviewed was 53.9 percent. Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's and Children's transplant program's one-year survival rate was 67.1 percent, which was 19 percent higher than the program's predicted survival rate (56.3 percent).

Unrelated donor stem cell transplants are used to treat an array of diseases, including leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma, anemias, and many other life-threatening blood, immune system, and genetic disorders.

Dana-Farber provides adult oncology care in partnership with Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, a comprehensive service that combines the expertise of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dana-Farber's extensive pediatric oncology services are offered in conjunction with Children's Hospital Boston through Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dana-farber.org) is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It is the top ranked cancer center in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report, and one of the largest recipients among independent hospital recipients of National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grant funding.

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 777-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery system. BWH is committed to excellence in patient care with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery. For more information about BWH, please visit www.brighamandwomens.org.

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 12 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community.

Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 397-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.

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