Cell Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplant

The Cell Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center offers life-saving treatments for cancer and various blood, immune, and metabolic disorders. As one of the largest programs in the U.S., it performs around 140 bone marrow transplants annually, utilizing both autologous and allogeneic transplants.

The program’s unique strengths lie in its multidisciplinary approach, extensive subspecialty expertise, and world-leading facilities, including in-house diagnostics and cell therapy manufacturing. Additionally, the program’s diverse team and long-term survivorship clinics ensure personalized, comprehensive care for patients throughout their treatment journey.

Cutting-Edge Treatments

Our state-of-the-art, 25-bed inpatient transplant unit is among the largest of its kind in the Southwestern United States and focuses on transplantation, cell therapy and gene therapy. Read below to learn more about these approaches:

Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplants

We have expertise performing marrow and stem cell transplants. This approach replaces malfunctioning immune cells, offering a potential cure for various cancers, blood disorders and immune deficiencies. Our program has a high rate of success for donor matching, which we achieve through our leadership in using cord blood as a source for stem cells—an approach that greatly expands the donor pool. Because of this, our patients have access to the best possible transplantation options and life-saving bone marrow transplants.

Other Cell and Immune Therapies

The program offers a range of cell therapies aimed at treating conditions by fixing malfunctioning cells. These therapies include new and emerging immunotherapies, such as CAR T-cell therapies, which can be tailored to individual patients and designed to enhance or modulate the body’s immune response to fight cancer or treat autoimmune diseases. The multidisciplinary team at Texas Children’s leverages their expertise and advanced clinical-grade facilities to deliver these life-changing treatments effectively.

Gene Therapies

Although currently experimental, gene therapies at Texas Children’s show promise for treating conditions like sickle cell disease. These therapies involve modifying a patient’s genes to correct genetic disorders, offering hope for long-term cures. Texas Children’s access to facilities and expertise at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy (CAGT) further enriches our leadership in this innovative field.

Patient Comfort

We employ therapeutic approaches that prioritize the comfort, health and wellbeing of patients – approaches that maximize outcomes while enabling more mobility and access to daily activities. A specialized high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system allows patients to leave their rooms and participate in social functions on the unit.

During your stay at Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Center, patients and their families have access to an array of comprehensive support. Learn more

What Sets Us Apart?

Since 1997, our Program has provided children, young adults and their families with unparalleled care. Located in the world's largest medical complex—the Texas Medical Center—and within one of the largest children's hospitals, we benefit from a vast network of healthcare professionals and specialists, enabling comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for the most complex cases, including rare diseases.

We see a high volume of patients from across all states and the world. Mirroring our vibrant community, our multicultural team of physicians, faculty and staff respect and understand different cultural backgrounds and speak various languages, further enhancing our ability to provide the best care possible.

As leaders in research and clinical trials, we are advancing new and cutting-edge treatments. Examples include our research into the use of umbilical cord stem cells to treat severe combined immune deficiency, which has been shown to be as effective as matched donor transplants. Additionally, we are conducting phase 1 trials on T-cell based immunotherapy for treatment-resistant solid tumors, providing new hope for patients worldwide.

Along with our extensive subspecialty expertise, we have four specialized clinics that offer tailored care throughout the entire treatment journey. These clinics are focused on areas that are critical for transplant success—including graft-versus-host disease, infectious disease, and advanced metabolic genetics. Additionally, our long-term survivorship clinic is one of the largest in the country and enables us to foster lifelong relationships with patients, to ensure that they receive the best follow-up care.

Combined, our unique strengths enable us to deliver the right care at the right time, while supporting our patients throughout their entire journey.

FACT Accredited

Texas Children's Hospital and the Cell Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplant Program are committed to providing the highest quality of patient care. As a reflection of our commitment to care, our Bone Marrow Transplant Program has been accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) since 2002. FACT accreditation is granted to institutions that exceed the current standards in patient care and laboratory practices.

Learn more at factwebsite.org.