Stem Cell Transplantation

UAMS operates one of the top peripheral blood stem cell transplantation clinics in the world. This Myeloma Institute clinic is an important part of the comprehensive services offered through our Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Our transplant clinic offers autologous, allogeneic and matched unrelated donor transplants, as well as outpatient transplant, stem cell selection, novel therapeutic and gene therapy programs. Stem cell transplantation has essentially replaced bone marrow transplant, allowing most patients to receive their transplant as an outpatient.

While most patients receiving transplants are diagnosed with multiple myeloma, our program also offers transplants to patients with other hematologic cancers as well as some solid organ tumors.

Stem cells are typically collected from the patient at the outset of treatment and transfused back to promote recovery of the bone marrow following chemotherapy. The procedure has led to higher survival and remission rates for those patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood’s plasma. The first stem cell transplant to treat myeloma at UAMS was conducted in 1989.

Program affiliates include the National Cancer Institute, Southwest Oncology Group and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.