For the 10th Consecutive Year, NSH BMT Program’s Survival Outcomes Among the Nation’s Best
NSH-BMT ranks in the top 20 percent of transplant programs in the country in terms of volume of allogeneic transplants performed. According to the data, the one-year survival rate of transplant patients at Northside is 79.4 percent, which exceeds the survival expected for the hospital. For more information, please click Survival Data and review Survival Brochure (PDF).
Congratulations to Dr. Melham Solh for His 2019 Castle Connolly Top Dr.’s Award
For 2019, Castle Connolly has recognized Dr. Solh as an Atlanta Top Dr. in his subspecialties of medical oncology and hematology. This is Dr. Solh’s first Top Dr. award. Currently, all five BMTGA/Northside Blood and Marrow Transplant/Leukemia/Immunotherapy physicians are recognized as an Atlanta Top Dr.
Northside Hospital Cancer Institute is a Certified Kymriah ® and Yescarta® Commercial CAR T-Cell Therapy Treatment Center
Northside Hospital Cancer Institute, a nationally recognized treatment center for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, blood and marrow transplant, is now an authorized Kymriah ®, tisagenlecleucel, CAR T-cell treatment center. Please click Press Release for additional information.
Kymriah ®, is a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy to treat adult patients with two types of blood-derived cancers:
- Patients up to the age of twenty-five with a diagnosis of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory or in a second or greater relapse.
- Adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, high grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma.
Yescarta®, axicabtagene ciloleucel, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy used for the following indication:
- First-ever FDA-approved CAR T cell therapy for adult patients with certain types of non-Hodgkin-lymphoma (NHL) who have relapsed or refractory disease after receiving two or more types of treatment.
To refer a CAR T-cell patient, please call 404-255-1930. For more information about CAR T-cell therapy, please click Immunotherapy Program at Northside.
New Immunotherapy Treatment for Patients with Certain Cancers Available at Northside Cancer Institute
Northside Hospital Cancer Institute (NHCI) Immunotherapy Program now offers access to another chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy for treatment of adult acute lymphoid leukemia and certain types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
To learn more about this and other items at Northside, visit Northside Life
Multiple Myeloma and B-cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA): Different Routes to Attack a New Target
Over the last two decades, outcomes of multiple myeloma (MM) patients have shown remarkable improvement due to incorporation of therapies such as immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDS), proteasome inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies (Daratumumab and Elotuzumab). Despite recent treatment advances for MM, most patients are expected to relapse, as the disease is still considered incurable.
Click here to read more on this story and others in the lastest Multiple Myeloma Newsletter
African American Patients Have Particularly Good Outcomes Following Allogeneic Transplantation Using HLA-Haploidentical Donor Transplants Using Approach Pioneered by the BMT Program at Northside Hospital (NSH BMT)
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is an established curative therapy for many patients with some hematologic malignancies that may be difficult to eradicate using alternative treatment.
Click here to read more on this story and others in the lastest BMT Newsletter
For the Sixth Consecutive Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) Re-inspection Cycle, the NSH BMT Clinical Transplant Program Receives a Perfect Score
Melissa Horowitz, RN, Manager of Cellular Therapy and Leukemia Program, and Ashlee Holbein, RN, FACT/QI Coordinator
In November 2018, NSH clinical BMT team underwent a FACT inspection, which occurs every three years. 2018 was the first year FACT required transplant centers to undergo Immune Effector Cells (IEC) accreditation. The new IEC policies apply to immune effector cells used to modulate an immune response for therapeutic intent, such as dendritic cells, natural killer cells, T cells, and B cells. IEC includes chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) and therapeutic vaccines.
The inspection team complimented NSH BMT’s physician oversight, trained team members, organizational structure, superior survival outcomes, and programmatic commitment to excellent patient care and awarded the program a perfect FACT Inspection score. We want to congratulate our NSH-BMT clinical transplant team members for this distinguished honor.
Congratulation to the NSH-BMT Program
Successful BMT CTN Grant Renewal 2017 – 2023
NSH-BMT program achieved BMT CTN Core Center Grant renewal funding for years 2017 - 2023. Past performance, current application, and PI leadership contributed to the grant renewal. NSH-BMT applied as a consortium with University of Miami and Levine Cancer Institute. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provide BMT CTN research grant funding.
Achieving this award is a validation of the efforts of each person in the program, the support of the administration, and leadership of the BMTGA physicians. For further information, please read Press Release.
Hoa Le, RN, NSH BMT/Leukemia/Immunotherapy Unit Nurse, Honored at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) Nursing Excellence Awards
We want to congratulate Hoa Le, RN, for being selected by the AJC as one of the top 10 nurses in Georgia at the 14th annual Celebrating Nurses Awards. There were over 800 nominations. Hoa’s commitment to providing outstanding patient care has helped the NSH BMT/Leukemia/Immunotherapy program to continue to have excellent survival rates and exceptional patient satisfaction.
Beth Wilson Meets Her Unrelated Donor
Alina Theine & Beth Wilson
Beth Wilson, a NSH blood and marrow unrelated donor recipient, husband surprised her for her October 2018 birthday with a March 2019 trip to Cologne, Germany. Unbeknownst to Beth, her unrelated donor, Alina Theine, was waiting at the train station when she arrived in Germany. The German donor registry, DKMS Deutschland, who helped facilitate Alina’s donor collection with the NSH BMT program, was at the train station filming their first meeting. Beth, her husband, and Alina, then traveled to the medical clinic, Cellex, to meet with medical staff who participated in Alina's donation.
Germany's national news broadcasted Beth and Alina's meeting. Since their story aired, over 300 potential donors have signed up to the DKMS donor registry. Beth and Alina also spoke about their story to three classes in two different schools and the importance to donate blood or marrow. One of the schools they visited had a student who matched a patient and has begun the donation process. Please click here to view Beth’s CNN’s donor meeting story.
If you are interested in becoming a donor, please visit, https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-bone-marrow/ Please visit Beth’s journey with acute leukemia, blood and marrow transplant, donation and survivorship after transplant on her Facebook page, Beth's Second Battle, and Instagram page, @bethdefying.
NSH-BMT/Leukemia Survivor Billy Kelly Featured in the nbmtLink’s June Newsletter
The Kelly family was a regular family chugging along when the rug was pulled out from under them. Cancer hit, they rallied with faith in God, love, support and much more. Lisa Kelly shares how they handled it, coped and then moved forward with extraordinary grace, living their new normal.
Click here to learn more about the Kelly family's experience
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase 1 Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase III Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I/II Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase III Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Blood Donations are Essential for Every NSH Blood and Marrow Transplant, Leukemia and Immunotherapy Patient
Marti Hand was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in April 2016 and received treatment at NSH Blood & Marrow Transplant program. Two and a half years and countless blood transfusions later, she is cancer free and thankful to the many strangers who donated blood to help her in her cancer fight. She shares her story today as a call to action for others to donate blood, supporting cancer fighters like her. View the full story here.
To learn more about blood donation and sign up to donate, visit atlantabloodservices.com
Updated 2017 Referral Guidelines: Recommended Timing For Transplant Consultation
Disease stage at the time of transplant can have a significant impact on patient survival [1] appropriate planning and early donor identification are critical for optimal outcomes.
The 2017 referral timing guidelines were developed jointly by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) /Be The Match® and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) and are based on current clinical practice, medical literature, and evidence-based reviews. [1,2]
The guidelines highlight disease categories that include patients at risk for disease progression, who should be referred for consultation for autologous or allogeneic HCT.[3]
If you have questions as to when to refer a patient for initial transplant consult, please call 404-255-1930 and ask to speak to one of our transplant physicians.
- Lee, SJ, Klein J, Haagenson M, et al. High-resolution donor-recipient HLA matching contributes to the success of unrelated donor marrow transplantation. Blood. 2007;110(13): 4576-4583. Access
- Pidala J, Lee SJ, Ahn KW, et al. Nonpermissive HLA-DPB1 mismatch increases mortality after myeloablative unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Blood. 2014:124(16):2596-2606. Access
- NMDP/Be The Match & ASBMT Recommended Timing for Transplant Consultation, 2017. Download (PDF)
Post- Blood and Marrow Transplant Immunization Schedule- What You Need to Know
After blood and marrow transplant, patients will need to be re-immunized with all childhood vaccinations due to their new immune systems being immature and vulnerable to diseases/infections. It is recommended that post-transplant patients begin their vaccination schedule six months after transplant unless clinically contraindicated. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), recommends the following:
- Inactivated influenza vaccine should be administered beginning at least 6 months after HCT and annually thereafter for the life of the patient.
- Sequential administration of 3 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is recommended, beginning 3-6 months after the transplant, followed by a dose of PPSV.
- A 3-dose regimen of Hib vaccine should be administered beginning 6 months after transplant; at least 1 month should separate the doses.
- MMR vaccine should be administered 24 months after transplant if the HCT recipient is immunocompetent.
- If a decision is made to vaccinate with varicella vaccine, the vaccine should be administered a minimum of 24 months after transplantation if the HCT recipient is presumed to be immunocompetent.
Please click here to view the NSH-BMT post-transplant vaccination schedule recommended for both autologous and allogeneic transplant recipients. For more specific information, see Tomblyn M, Chiller T, Einsele H, et al. Guidelines for Preventing Infectious Complications among Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Recipients: A Global Perspective [1.9MB, 96 pages]. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 15:1143-1238;2009 or visit http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines.
