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Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
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Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Our Services

Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) and Cellular Therapies

Blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) is used successfully to treat a number of cancers, blood diseases and immune disorders that were once considered incurable. Our proactive patient care with close monitoring of the immune system has resulted in unsurpassed outcomes since 2010: one-year transplant-related mortality below 10 percent for all allogeneic marrow and cord blood transplants and below 5 percent for reduced-intensity transplants.

The division has a strong focus on reduced-intensity/toxicity cord blood, bone marrow, and stem cell transplantation for inherited disorders (see below). In addition, it has a clinical research focus on Crohn's disease and other autoimmune disorders. In collaboration with other divisions, it also offers tandem lung and bone marrow transplantation for patients with immunodeficiencies who have progressed to pulmonary failure.

Children's Hospital's Program for the Study of Neurodevelopment in Rare Disorders (NDRD) collaborates with the division on Inborn Errors of Metabolism including:

  • Hurler syndrome (MPS I)
  • Hunter syndrome (MPS II)
  • Sanfilippo syndrome (MPS III)
  • Krabbe disease, also known as globoid cell leukodystrophy
  • Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD)
  • X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
  • Alpha mannosidosis
  • Primary immunodeficiency syndromes including but not limited to:
    • Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID)
    • Omenn syndrome
    • Bare lymphocyte syndrome (BLS)
    • Combined immune deficiency (CID) syndromes
    • Combined variable immune deficiency (CVID) syndrome
    • Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
    • Leukocyte adhesion deficiency
    • Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD)
    • X-linked Hyper IgM (XHIM) syndrome
    • IPEX syndrome
    • Chediak–Higashi syndrome
    • Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS)
    • Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) syndromes
    • Lymphocyte signaling defects
  • Bone marrow failure syndromes
    • Aplastic anemia (AA)
    • Fanconi anemia (FA)
    • Schwachman Diamond syndrome
    • Dyskeratosis congenita (DC)
    • Congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (CAMT)
    • Osteopetrosis
  • Hereditary anemias
    • Thalassemia major
    • Sickle cell disease (SCD)
    • Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA)

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is one of a small group of children's hospitals that offers CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy that uses a person’s own genetically modified T cells to find and kill cancer cells. At UPMC Children’s Hospital we use KYMRIAH®, an FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy for children and young adults with relapsed or refracted B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Children’s is also committed to clinical investigation with programs for innovative therapies against malignant and non-malignant diseases. The nursing staff, with training in BMT, oncology and pediatric intensive care, is complemented by pharmacists, social workers, child life specialists, nutritionists and physical therapists, all specializing in the care and treatment of children and adolescents.

Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT)The Blood and Marrow Transplant program at Children's is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) for all components of both allogeneic and autologous transplants, which include the clinical program and stem cell collection. This accreditation certifies that Children’s program has passed rigorous standards of practice for all of these facilities. 

To provide our patients with access to the most recent innovations in transplantation, we collaborate in many multi-center trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). For patients with sickle cell disease and other non-malignant conditions, we are doing pioneering clinical research in a form of transplantation called non-myeloablative, meaning the recipient’s bone marrow is not completely destroyed. We work in close collaboration with the Stem Cell Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI).

The Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) program has expanded considerably since its inception in 1991. It is accredited by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) for unrelated donor transplants in children. Transplants performed here utilize bone marrow, peripheral blood, and cord blood as stem cell sources. For patients requiring transplantation who do not have related donors, we have many years of experience with unrelated bone marrow and cord blood transplantation. We routinely perform transplants for patients with a wide variety of malignant (acute and chronic leukemias, brain tumors) and non-malignant (aplastic anemia, sickle cell disease, immune deficiencies) diseases. Types of blood and marrow transplants performed at Children’s include:

  • Autologous Transplant: Self Donor
  • Syngeneic Transplant: Identical Twin Donor
  • Allogeneic Transplant: Related Donor
  • Allogeneic Transplant: Unrelated Donor
  • Allogeneic Transplant: "Mismatched" Donor
  • Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant

Contact Us

To schedule an appointment or consultation with the Division of Bone and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, please call 412-692-6740.