Stem Cell Transplant
Yale New Haven Hospital is a member of the National Marrow Donor Program and is accredited as a major transplant center by the FACT transplant accreditation committee.
In an effort to destroy abnormal cancerous cells in leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, stem cell transplants are often used. Yale is the only center in Connecticut offering allogeneic transplant, a transplant using compatible donor stem cells.
New clinical trials are available for patients who have not been successfully matched with a donor and are at high risk for relapse. Available in only a handful of cancer centers in the country, Yale Cancer Center is currently performing:
- Non-myeloablative or reduced intensity transplants, which is a technique that uses a less intense treatment to prepare a patient for transplant and alternatively relies on the donor's immune cells combined with newer agents to fight the cancer. Lead physician is Stuart Seropian, MD.
Stem cell allotransplantation can cause a side effect called graft-versus-host disease in 40-50% of patients who receive transplant. Yale Cancer Center researchers have long been considered leaders in developing novel techniques to eliminate this disease. Advances include:
- The discovery that dendritic, or immune cells, are necessary in causing graft-versus-host disease. The deletion of T-cells from the donor stem cells removes the incidence of graft-versus-host but may also decrease the effectiveness of the transplant.
- The introduction of intravenous infusions of autologous immature dendritic cells before an allogeneic transplant.
The National Marrow Donor Program tracks data on patients who have received a transplant at accredited United States Transplant Centers. Smilow Cancer Hospital/Yale Cancer Center’s actual results are above the predicted survival range. Over 20,000 patients are transplanted in the United States per year. Learn More
The following chart shows how Yale Cancer Center compares to Transplant Centers in the United States Reporting More than 50 Allogeneic Transplants During the Last Reporting Period (2014 – 2015).
Institution |
Number of Patients |
One-Year Survival |
Predicted Survival |
Yale University/Yale New Haven Hospital |
87 |
71.8% |
63.1% |
B |
654 |
87.9% |
76.0% |
C |
113 |
80.4% |
72.2% |
D |
229 |
79.0% |
63.3% |
E |
55 |
77.5% |
62.8% |
F |
556 |
77.1% |
65.8% |
G |
80 |
76.3% |
66.7% |
H |
188 |
75.7% |
62.2% |
I |
357 |
75.1% |
63.8% |
J |
426 |
74.6% |
68.8% |
K |
210 |
74.4% |
68.8% |
L |
553 |
74.2% |
67.1% |
M |
200 |
73.3% |
65.6% |
N |
100 |
73.1% |
56.4% |
O |
82 |
72.7% |
60.9% |
P |
112 |
72.6% |
52.9% |
Q |
76 |
72.0% |
56.3% |
R |
93 |
71.2% |
59.8% |
S |
69 |
71.0% |
64.4% |
T |
366 |
70.4% |
63.8% |
U |
333 |
70.3% |
66.7% |
V |
118 |
70.0% |
66.4% |
W |
268 |
68.2% |
64.9% |
X |
128 |
68.1% |
62.8% |
Y |
96 |
67.8% |
65.8% |
Z |
167 |
67.2% |
58.7% |
AA |
103 |
67.1% |
61.5% |
BB |
267 |
66.4% |
59.7% |
CC |
226 |
66.0% |
57.3% |
DD |
158 |
64.7% |
61.7% |
EE |
55 |
64.6% |
52.5% |
FF |
147 |
64.1% |
57.3% |
GG |
719 |
63.2% |
61.4% |
HH |
224 |
63.0% |
59.9% |
II |
159 |
62.9% |
57.4% |
JJ |
242 |
62.6% |
63.4% |
KK |
169 |
62.5% |
65.4% |
LL |
245 |
62.0% |
58.8% |
MM |
65 |
61.9% |
63.7% |
NN |
169 |
62.5% |
65.4% |
OO |
245 |
62.0% |
58.8% |
PP |
65 |
61.9% |
56.5% |
|
169 |
61.9% |
65.4% |
RR |
344 |
61.3% |
63.3% |
SS |
81 |
59.4% |
58.9% |
TT |
108 |
59.2% |
60.8% |
UU |
101 |
58.6% |
58.3% |
VV |
60 |
57.3% |
57.5% |
WW |
465 |
56.0% |
57.5% |
XX | 77 | 50.0% | 51.1% |