We Welcome Dr. Lizamarie Bachier, MD, to The Blood and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia and The Northside Cancer Institute.
On October 18, 2021, Dr. Bachier joined The Blood and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia and the Northside Cancer Institute’s Blood and Marrow Transplant, Leukemia and Immunotherapy Programs. Dr. Bachier has extensive experience taking care of patients with complex blood and hematological malignancies.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center
Advanced Bone Marrow Transplant Fellowship:
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Hematology Oncology Fellowship:
• Weil Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
Postgraduate Training:
• Internal Medicine Residency, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Board Certification:
• Oncology and Hematology
Dr. Bachier is accepting new patients. Please call 404.255.1930 to refer a patient or speak to a physician.
September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month
We would like to thank our patients, caregivers and team members who continuously support our nationally recognized BMT/Leukemia/Immunotherapy Programs. Our BMT Program is the ONLY adult program in the U.S. that achieved survival outcomes that significantly exceeded their expected survival rate for the last 12 consecutive reporting cycles.
Please click the images above to view Lindsay Stead’s and Caroline Campbell's BMT and Leukemia patient testimonials.
National Leaders in Allogeneic Transplantation
For an 12th consecutive year, The Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute has been recognized as having among the best survival outcomes in the United States for bone marrow transplants.
NH-BMT is the ONLY adult BMT program in the United States that achieved one year Allogeneic transplant survival outcomes that significantly exceeded their expected survival rate for the last 12 consecutive reporting cycles, is the largest Allogenic program in Georgia, and the only transplant center in Georgia to exceed survival outcomes. The one-year survival of Allogeneic patients transplanted at Northside was 80.8%.*
For additional information, click Survival Data.
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Atlanta Multiple Myeloma Symposium: Registration is OPEN
We would like to invite you to attend the 2nd Annual Atlanta Multiple Myeloma Symposium (AMMS) on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at the Intercontinental in Atlanta. This one-day meeting will address the latest strategies and state-of-the-art approaches for managing patients with multiple myeloma and other plasma cell disorders. Join us and our expert roster of faculty at this pivotal educational event.
Congratulations to Our BMTGA Physicians and Their Top Doctor Awards
We are proud to announce all five BMTGA physicians were selected as 2021 Castle Connolly and Atlanta Magazine’s Top Doctors. Dedication to their patients, family members and staff has resulted in the Northside Blood and Marrow Transplant Program being the ONLY BMT Center in the country to exceed predicted survival rates for the past twelve years.
Dr. Solh’s Research, “Alternative Donor Transplantation for Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Haploidentical Relative and Matched Unrelated Donors,” is Published by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).
This research trial was one of three selected this quarter by the CIBMTR’s Consumer Advocacy Committee. To read article, click CIBMTR Study Summaries for Patients page
Now Available: 2021 Transplant Consultation Timing Guidelines
The 2021 Transplant Consultation Timing Guidelines identify appropriate allogeneic or autologous HCT referral timing based on disease characteristics. Access the guidelines online, as a PDF or in the mobile app.
The NMDP/Be the Match and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) jointly develop the guidelines. They are based on current clinical practice, medical literature, National Comprehensive Cancer Network© (NCCN) Guidelines for the treatment of cancer and evidence-based reviews.
We Congratulate Katherine Welch on her Five Year Leukemia/BMT Anniversary
and her Son Michael’s Fifth Birthday
To read more of Katherine and her son’s amazing journey, please Click here.
Summer 2021 Hope & Healing Survivorship Newsletter
The Northside Hospital Cancer Institute recently published their Summer Survivorship Newsletter. To read more about available survivorship and support services, please click here.
WebMD Features Dr. Larry Morris and Ray Gillespie, a Northside Immunotherapy Program CAR T-cell Patient
To refer a CAR T-cell patient, please call 404-255-1930 or visit http://www.bmtga.com/immunotherapy-program-at-northside/
nBMTlink’s Lunch and Learn, Everything You Needed to Know About CAR T-cell Therapy, Featured Our CAR T-cell Patient, Ray Gillespie and Dr. Larry Morris
Dr. Morris provided CAR T-cell education to two hundred and forty patients who participated in this national nbmtlink Lunch and Learn. Ray Gillespie, an NHL CAR T-cell survivor shared his personal experience including details about his life-saving clinical trial.
To listen to the Lunch and Learn, please click here.
Dr Holland’s CAR T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Presentation is Now Available
The Immunotherapy Program at Northside Hospital is a Bristol Myers Squibb and bluebirdbio Certified CAR T-Cell Treatment Center for Abecma™ (idecabtagene vicleucel), the First Anti-BCMA CAR T Cell Therapy for Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Abecma™, is a first-in-class BCMA-directed personalized immune cell therapy delivered as a one-time infusion for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.
In the pivotal KarMMa trial, the majority (72%) of patients achieved rapid, deep and durable responses. The safety profile of Abecma™ is well established and predictable including cytokine release syndrome and neurologic toxicities that are mostly low-grade with early onset and resolution.
To learn more about Multiple Myeloma and Abecma™, please click here.
Northside Immunotherapy Program First to Offer New CAR T-cell Therapy for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BREYANZI™ (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel), from Bristol Myers, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy, for the treatment of adult patients with:
- Relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy.
- Including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified (including DLBCL arising from indolent lymphoma).
- High-grade B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma grade 3B.
We are the first program in Georgia to offer this latest chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. To read more about Breyanzi CAR T-cell Therapy, click here.
To make a CAR T-cell referral, or to speak with a physician, please call 404-255-1930.
We Offer All Four FDA-Approved CAR T-cell Products for B-cell Malignancies
- Breyanzi®, Yescarta® and Kymriah® for patients with R/R large B-cell lymphomas including transformed follicular lymphoma
- Tecartus® for patients with R/R mantle cell lymphoma
- Yescarta® for patients with R/R follicular lymphoma
- Kymriah® for patients with R/R B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Referring patients early can assist in optimal treatment planning due to varying product manufacturing times, which can take between 2-4 weeks.
For more detailed CAR T-cell NHL product information, please Click here
Please call 404-255-1930 to initiate a referral or to speak to a physician.
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Dr Bashey’s Cancer Support Community’s, Frankly Speaking About Multiple Myeloma, Presentation is Now Available
Congratulations to the NH-BMT Data Management Department
During the recent 2021 CIBMTR Tandem meetings, the BMT Program’s data management department and supervisor, Katie Jackson, BS, CCRC, program data supervisor, were recognized as one of the nation’s 2020 top performing transplant centers with a 0.6% to 1.0% critical field error rate. No other adult transplant program in the nation achieved these results.The Program’s auditing/training procedures were also recognized.
Katie also was a co-presenter for the Tandem Meeting session, HCT Product & Infusion. Click here to review presentation. We congratulate the entire Northside BMT data management team.
Congratulation to the NH-BMT Program
Successful BMT CTN Grant Renewal 2017 – 2023
NH-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. NH-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.
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
Advances in Immunotherapy for Cancer: Novel Phase I Clinical Research Trial Open for Enrollment
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 NH-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.