Blood and Marrow Transplant

Imagine a day when every patient has a match

Many patients who need a stem cell transplant to be cured from their blood disorder can’t always find a donor who fully matches their tissue type. This is especially true for racial and ethnic minorities. 

Hope is available at The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Our specialists can match almost any patient immediately. One way is through half-matched related, or haploidentical, transplants. Possible donors include parents, siblings and adult children. 
Finding a match can mean a cure. Learn more.

Blood and marrow transplant, or BMT, specialists at The University of Kansas Cancer Center have made almost immediate donor matches possible for those waiting for a transplant. Our recent advances in half-matched donor transplant, referred to as haploidentical, have allowed for a much broader range of donors. Our physicians can identify an appropriate donor for almost every patient, potentially saving more lives.

This means a donor can be found almost immediately for nearly every patient who needs a BMT transplant to be cured.

A need for treatment

Tens of thousands of adults and children in the U.S. are diagnosed each year with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood diseases. For many, the only effective treatment option is a blood and marrow transplant.

BMT has become a successful treatment because it enables physicians to treat these diseases with aggressive chemotherapy and/or radiation. BMT allows replacement of the diseased or damaged bone marrow after treatment.

Our BMT program provides patients with innovative and lifesaving transplant therapies.

Types of transplant

Become a bone marrow donor

Every year, more than 35,000 people throughout the nation are diagnosed with cancer and other life-threatening blood disorders that are treated with a blood and/or marrow transplant. Unfortunately only about 30 percent of patients in need of a BMT find a matched "related donor" in his or her family. The remaining 70 percent rely upon the hopes of finding a matched "unrelated donor" through the National Marrow Donor Program's worldwide database. Learn more.

If the donor is a relative, the transplant is called a related donor transplant. If the donor is unrelated, the transplant is called an unrelated donor transplant.

Stem cells for an allogeneic transplant can be harvested with traditional methods, using bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. An additional source of stem cells can be found in the blood inside a newborn's umbilical cord.

Clinical trials

BMT patients are strongly encouraged to participate in clinical trials that are part of ongoing BMT research efforts. Clinical trials offer patients the latest treatment therapies. They also provide important information that will lead to an increased understanding of cancer and blood disease prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and support care.

 

We perform blood and marrow transplants for various diseases, including:

• Leukemia
  • Acute myelogenous leukemia
  • Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
  • Chronic myelogenous leukemia
• Lymphoma
  • Burkitt's lymphoma
  • Hodgkin lymphoma (“Hodgkin’s disease”) 
  • Mantle Cell lymphoma
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Multiple myeloma
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Myeloproliferative disorders

 Other blood disorders and solid tumors we treat include:

• Amyloidosis
• Aplastic anemia
• Ewing’s sarcoma
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID)
• Testicular/germ cell tumors
• Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia

To make an appointment:
Call: 913.588.1227
Toll Free Call: 800.332.6048

Referring physicians:
Call: 913.588.5862
Toll Free Call: 877.588.5862

Why Choose The University of Kansas Cancer Center

Multidisciplinary team providing advanced care with compassion

Make a gift

Fund programs that provide compassion, comfort and the best diagnostic and treatment equipment for cancer patients in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Give now.

At The University of Kansas Cancer Center, a multidisciplinary team provides you with the latest advances in technology and research, delivered with compassionate care.

You benefit from the expertise of specialists in imaging, pathology, medical and radiation oncology, surgery, risk counseling and prevention therapies. Together, we develop a treatment plan tailored to your diagnosis and needs.

• Leading-edge techniques minimize patient admission to the hospital whenever possible. Convenient outpatient services are provided at our Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion in Westwood, Kansas. This state-of-the art faciility is designed to meed the medical and personal needs of patients and their families.
• Our care team closely manages each patient's preparation, treatment and recovery. All BMT paitents are treated in a safe and private environment. To protect patients from infection, care areas are isolated from those frequented by the general public.
• Patients receive care from trained BMT nurses and support staff, who help with every aspect of the transplant experience, including nutrition, managing side effects and emotional support.

Second opinion service

If you have been diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma or another blood disease, we can provide you with a second opinion. Asking for a second opinion doesn't mean you think the first diagnosis is wrong you have doubts about your doctor. Rather, it's a good way for you to get more information about your treatment options.

Learn about the BMT program at The University of Kansas Hospital.