Kids Beating Cancer
Pediatric Transplant Center
Kids Beating Cancer is investing in the lives of today’s children and the promise of tomorrow—by ensuring access to cutting-edge, lifesaving therapies at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children.
The expert team at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center brings world-class training and deep experience in treating the most complex and high-risk conditions—offering hope where transplant is the only cure. This includes relapsed and refractory cancers, bone marrow failure syndromes, sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies, immune deficiencies, histiocytic disorders, and inherited metabolic diseases.
World-Class Cellular Therapy, Close to Home
At the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children, every detail is designed with families in mind. From patient rooms tailored to the needs of children to spaces that offer comfort and compassion for the entire family, this state-of-the-art facility provides a healing environment during life-saving treatment.
Here, your child is cared for by a dedicated team of pediatric transplant specialists who deliver comprehensive, individualized care throughout every step of the transplant journey. With world-class cellular therapy available right here in Central Florida, families can stay close to home—surrounded by the support and love they need most.
A Healing Environment Built for Children and Families
Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children is a dedicated, state-of-the-art pediatric transplant unit featuring eight in-patient rooms, each designed to support the unique needs of children undergoing life-saving treatment.
Equipped with HEPA filtration throughout the unit, this specialized environment prioritizes infection prevention to protect children with compromised immune systems. Beyond clinical excellence, the Center offers thoughtful amenities to support families during extended hospital stays, including:
- A cheerful patient playroom to bring comfort and joy
- A welcoming family lounge for moments of rest and connection
- A laundry room for added convenience
- A fully equipped kitchen and pantry, kept stocked through Kids Beating Cancer’s Food for Families program, so families can prepare meals and feel at home
Every aspect of the Transplant Center is designed with compassion, ensuring children and their families
New Cells Offer New Hope
A future built on innovation. A mission fueled by healing.
At Kids Beating Cancer, we believe in a future where new cells offer new hope, advancing life-saving therapies that begin at the cellular level.
Every discovery starts with a single cell. At Kids Beating Cancer, we invest in the science where new cells offer new hope to children fighting cancer.
Our mission leads us to the frontiers of medical science, where new cells offer new hope, and a second chance at life.
Expertise in Treating Complex Pediatric Conditions
At AdventHealth for Children, the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center expert providers bring extensive experience in treating a wide range of diseases and conditions that affect children. Their specialized knowledge allows them to deliver highly individualized, life-saving care to young patients facing complex diagnoses.
Some of the more common conditions treated include:
- Blood Cancers
Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) - Childhood Cancers
Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma, Brain Tumors - Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes
Aplastic Anemia, Fanconi Anemia, Diamond-Blackfan Anemia - Inherited Blood Disorders
Sickle Cell Disease, Thalassemia - Immunodeficiencies
Various congenital or acquired immune system disorders
With a multidisciplinary team and a compassionate, family-centered approach, the Center provides not just expert treatment, but also hope and healing for every child.
Stem Cell Transplant: A Lifesaving Path to a Cure
For children diagnosed with conditions where the bone marrow is overtaken by abnormal or cancerous cells, such as leukemia or when their bone marrow is no longer able to grow, divide, or function properly, a stem cell transplant is often the only curative treatment available.
This transformative therapy involves replacing the child’s diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy new stem cells. These donor or self-derived cells have the potential to restore normal bone marrow function and produce healthy blood cells.
Before the transplant, children receive preparative treatment such as chemotherapy and/or radiation to:
- Destroy the abnormal or cancerous cells
- Create space in the bone marrow for the new cells
- Suppress the immune system to prevent rejection of the transplanted cells
This carefully coordinated process offers the best chance for a long-term cure and a renewed future filled with hope.
Understanding Your Child’s Transplant Journey
There are many types of transplants—including blood and bone marrow, and it’s important to understand the differences to determine the best path forward.
At AdventHealth for Children, the expert team at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center is here to guide families every step of the way. With compassion and clarity, they help you understand each option and what it means for your child, ensuring you feel confident, supported, and empowered throughout your child’s treatment journey.
Types of Stem Cell Transplants
Autologous Transplant
An autologous stem cell transplant uses a child’s own stem cells. This approach is most used to treat solid tumors, such as:
- Lymphoma
- Neuroblastoma
- Brain tumors
The child’s healthy stem cells are collected in advance and safely stored in the Kids Beating Cancer Cellular Therapy Facility, a specialized laboratory equipped for pediatric care. The goal of this treatment is to allow doctors to deliver very high doses of chemotherapy, which can be more effective in destroying cancer cells.
After the high-dose chemotherapy is complete, the saved stem cells are returned to the child through a specialized IV infusion, helping their bone marrow recover and produce healthy blood cells.
Allogeneic Transplant
An allogeneic stem cell transplant uses donated stem cells from a matched donor, such as a sibling, family member, or unrelated volunteer. This type of transplant is often used to treat:
- Leukemia
- Other blood cancers
- Diseases affecting the bone marrow
Following chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation, the healthy donor stem cells are infused through a specialized IV. These cells work to replace the child’s diseased or poorly functioning bone marrow, with the potential to rebuild a healthy immune system and cure the disease.
Both types of transplants are complex, but they offer hope for a cure and a renewed future. At the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center, families are supported every step of the way with expert care, advanced technology, and unwavering compassion.
There are 3 main categories of allogeneic transplants:
- Matched related donor: stem cells donated from a fully matched family member, typically a sibling that shares the same two biological parents. A full sibling has a 25% chance of being a complete match.
- Haploidentical donor: stem cells donated from a family member that is partially or half matched, which is typically a parent or sibling. The two biological parents are always a haploidentical match for the patient. Siblings that share one or both parents could be a haploidentical match for the patient as well
- Unrelated donor: stem cells donated from an anonymous donor, who is identified through an international registry. In the United States, donors are selected through the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, also known as Be The Match and other international Registries
The stem cells can come from one of the following sources:
- Bone marrow, which is the spongy tissue inside hip bones
- Peripheral blood stem cells, which are in the circulating blood in your body
- Umbilical cord blood, which comes from the placenta of a healthy newborn baby
Expert Guidance for Your Child’s Transplant Care
At AdventHealth for Children, expert pediatric transplant physicians determine the best type of transplant, identify the most appropriate donor source, and carefully time the procedure to give your child the greatest chance for success. With their experience and compassionate care, you can rest assured your child is in the best hands.
What Is Cellular Therapy?
Cellular therapy refers to advanced treatments that use the body’s own immune cells to fight disease. This includes:
- Stem cell transplants, also known as blood and marrow transplants
- Immune cell therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapy, which modify the patient’s own cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells
These therapies offer hope for children whose cancers are resistant to conventional treatments.
CAR-T Cellular Therapy: A Personalized Cancer Treatment
AdventHealth for Children is a designated center for CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy, an innovative approach where a child’s own immune cells are collected, re-engineered to recognize cancer, and infused back into their body to fight the disease.
Through the generous investment from Kids Beating Cancer, the Kids Beating Cancer Cellular Therapy Facility at AdventHealth Orlando houses the first pediatric CAR-T equipment in Central Florida—bringing cutting-edge, personalized cancer treatment to children close to home.
AdventHealth Accreditation
The Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center and the Cellular Therapy program at AdventHealth for Children is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), an internationally-recognized accrediting body for hospitals offering stem cell transplant. This means you can feel confident your child is in the best hands, as their team has met the most rigorous standards in every aspect of stem cell therapy.
AdventHealth Certification
The Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children is approved by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium, and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).
Kids Beating Cancer named facilities at Advent Health Orlando and AdevtHealth for Children are part of the AdventHeath Healthcare System and not owned, operated or staffed by Kids Beating Cancer.
