Kids Beating Cancer
Pediatric Transplant Center
Kids Beating Cancer is investing in the needs of today’s children and the future by providing them access to cutting edge therapies to save children’s lives at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventhHealth for Children.
The team at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children has world-class training and extensive experience in treating all diseases for which transplantation is the only cure. This includes relapsed and refractory malignancies, bone marrow failure syndromes, sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies, immune deficiencies, histiocytic disorders and inherited metabolic disorders.
The Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center team, is experts in transplants from all types of donors – including siblings, parents, relatives and volunteers from around the world. With Kids Beating Cancer’s commitment to the Transplant Center, every child who needs a transplant will find the best possible compatible donor. The cell source, bone marrow, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood, as well as the pre-transplant preparative regimen are all chosen specifically for each child by the team at AdventHealth for Children Cellular Therapy program. In addition to cutting-edge transplantation, the Center offers comprehensive services that include pre-transplantation consultation and evaluation, pediatric hematology and oncology program support, family education, social support services and long-term post-transplant follow-up.
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.
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).
Stem Cell Transplantation for Children
Children diagnosed with a disease where their bone marrow becomes replaced by abnormal or cancer cells, such as leukemia, or their own bone marrow cells are unable to grow, divide and function normally, a stem cell transplant is often the only curative treatment. Stem cell transplantation means new bone marrow “stem cells” are given to the child to replace the abnormal and/or cancer cells. Before the stem cell transplant, children are first given treatment such as chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy the abnormal cells, making “space” for the new stem cells, and to prevent their own bodies from rejecting the new cells.
The Five Types of Stem Cell Transplants
Bone Marrow Transplants
The Type of Transplant depends on the Donor Cell Source
- Autologous Transplant – Transplanted cells come from the child’s own peripheral (circulating) blood.
- Allogeneic Transplant: Transplanted cells come from a donor who is family member or is an unrelated volunteer donor.
- Syngeneic Transplant: Transplanted cells come from an identical twin sibling (this is a type of allogeneic transplant).
- Cord Blood: Transplanted cells come from the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born. This blood is rich in blood-forming cells (this is a type of allogeneic transplant).
- Mixed Chimerism Transplant: Transplanted cells come from either a related or unrelated donor. The transplant takes place after the child has a moderate dose of chemotherapy and radiation.
Bone Marrow donation verses Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) collection
Bone Marrow donation is a surgical procedure performed in a hospital under anesthesia, doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow, filled with stem cells, from the pelvic bones.
Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) is a non-surgical procedure. For 5 days leading up to donation, a donor given injections of filgrastim, a medication that increases the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. On the day of donation, blood is removed through a needle on one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming stem cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm.
Diagnosis to Transplant
Reducing barriers to a cure
1. The family is informed their child is diagnosed with one of 80 different cancers, leukemias, lymphoma, aplastic anemia or related life-threatening blood diseases that a marrow, stem cell transplant or cellular therapy is the only treatment and the best hope for a cure. Depending on the disease it may be the preferred treatment upfront or this news may come after the child’s disease has returned (i.e., a relapse).
2. After the initial devastation of the news of diagnosis, Kids Beating Cancer is here for the families, to reduce the barriers to care and reduce the burdens that can overwhelm the families.
3. The child (the patient), their siblings (if there are any), and parents are HLA typed. This may or may not be fully covered or have limits of coverage under insurance or Medicaid. At the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children, testing is sponsored by Kids Beating Cancer’s “Fund the Match” program to AdventHealth for Children when not covered by Medicaid.
4. Seventy percent of the time, a compatible donor IS NOT found within the family. The next step is a search for an unrelated donor nationally and internationally. The formal search for a compatible donor from a national donor registry is not funded by Medicaid. Through Kids Beating Cancer’s “Fund the Match” program, a search for the best matching donor is initiated.
If a physician has recommended that a child needs a stem cell transplant to treat their child’s disease, they have many things to think about. They will to try to prepare their family for the challenges ahead. Kids beating Cancer is here to walk with the child and their families through the treatment process providing access to the best hope for a cure.
YOU can help these families during the devastating and draining journey to a cure desperate for what every parent wants – their child to be healthy, happy, and to live out their dreams! YOUR support of Kids Beating Cancer’s Children’s Fund will save children’s lives!
