Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program Quality and Outcomes

The Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at the University of Iowa exceeded survival expectations and was rated an “outperfomer” by the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) in its most recent survey in 2016.

The CIBMTR ranking report is a critical measure that can help patients, families, and referring providers identify the best transplant centers to treat blood cancers like leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, myelofibrosis, myeloma, and lymphoma. This report looks at the predicted and actual survival rates of patients across a rolling three-year period, adjusting for the severity of cases so that programs can be compared around the country.

In CIBMTR’s annual review of 179 national BMT programs performing allotransplants (center performance on autologous transplants are not analyzed), the Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of only a few ranked as “outperforming” in 2016. Fewer than 10 percent of US centers achieve this ranking. The predicted survival rate at one year of the 145 patients treated by Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center was 63.0 percent. But the actual survival rate was 73.8 percent, a dramatic outperformance. 

In addition, Iowa’s BMT center is one of only about six percent of centers in the country that have maintained this ranking for three years running — joining only 16 other BMT programs in the nation to have earned this prestigious status in 2016.

The CIBMTR report is publicly available online through Be The Match and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

FACT Reaccreditation

The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Adult and Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program has earned reaccreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).

FACT accreditation puts the University of Iowa Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program on a select list of institutions that meet the most rigorous standards in every aspect of stem cell therapy, including clinical care, donor management, cell collection, processing, storage, transportation, administration, and cell release.