Blood Cancers

Stem Cell Transplants

Blood and marrow stem cell transplants are one of the most effective ways to successfully treat many blood cancers. As Central Florida’s first and only comprehensive Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, we ensure that your health is in the hands of world-class oncologists who perform more than 140 different transplants every year.

What is Bone Marrow?

Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside your bones that produces blood cells in your body. A bone marrow transplant replaces damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy marrow so your body can produce normal blood cells.

Options for Stem Cell Transplants

Before recommending a stem cell transplant, your oncology care team will guide you through a series of baseline tests to make sure a stem cell transplant is the best course of treatment for you. Depending on your diagnosis and test results, your team will collaborate to develop a personalized treatment plan.

We typically take one of two paths when it comes to treating blood-related cancers:

• Allogeneic bone marrow transplants use bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells donated from genetically matched members of your family, typically your brother or sister or a donor located through national registries
• Autologous bone marrow transplants use peripheral blood stem cells harvested from you while you are in remission and are frozen and utilized at a later time to treat your cancer with your own cells

Your oncology care team can help answer any questions you may have about bone marrow or stem cell bone marrow transplantation.

Chemotherapy Treatment: What to Expect

Nothing matters more to us than getting you well and getting you home. Depending on what type of blood cancer you have and how advanced it is, chemotherapy may play an essential role in successfully treating the disease. From the moment you arrive for your chemo treatment, one of our nurses will be there to greet you and guide you, keeping you and your loved one informed, comfortable and in good spirits throughout your visit.

How Does Chemotherapy Work?

Using a combination of specialized drugs, chemotherapy has the power to destroy or slow down the growth of fast-growing cancer cells by finding and shrinking them in every part of your body. It can be administered intravenously, by injection, orally or delivered directly into a specific part of your body.

At AdventHealth Cancer Institute, our oncology experts take an individualized approach to your chemotherapy treatment. Depending on your type of cancer, we’ll determine which drug or combination of drugs offers the most promise for you. Chemotherapy may be the only treatment you receive, or, more commonly, it’s used in combination with a bone marrow transplant.

Along the way, we're here to help however we can, answering any questions and helping you stay strong and optimistic before, during and after your treatment.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) Therapy

CAR-T is an immunotherapy that enlists and strengthens the power of a patient's immune system to attack cancer cells. As its name implies, the backbone of CAR-T cell therapy is T cells, which are often called the workhorses of the immune system because of their critical role in orchestrating the immune response and eliminating cells infected by pathogens.

This therapy requires drawing blood from patients and separating out the T cells. Next, using a disarmed virus, the T cells are genetically engineered to produce receptors on their surface called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). The final step is the infusion of the CAR-T cells into the patient (which is preceded by a "lymphodepleting" chemotherapy regimen). If all goes as planned, the engineered cells further multiply in the patient's body and, with guidance from their engineered receptor, recognize and eliminate cancer cells that harbor the antigen on their surfaces.