Transplants of blood-forming stem cells have proven effective in treating a number of cancers and blood-related disorders. Sutter Cancer Center offers a comprehensive Blood & Marrow Transplant program.

Research continues to discover new uses, including possible treatments for advanced kidney and breast cancers.

Though most patients may be familiar with bone marrow transplants, the procedure is now commonly referred to as a stem cell transplant, reflecting a change in how doctors collect the stem cells they give patients. Until researchers discovered that blood-forming stem cells could also be found in the bloodstream, harvesting cells from the bone marrow was the only known way to collect blood-forming stem cells. Today, doctors collect stem cells from the blood in all but select cases and research on patient results supports this surgery-free approach.

Since 1993, Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento has offered patients a comfortable, convenient and supportive atmosphere for stem cell transplants. Types of transplants offered include autologous (from patient's own cells), match-related high-dose allogeneic (from donor), and reduced-intensity allogeneic chemotherapy blood and marrow transplants.

The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program shares Sutter Medical Center's commitment to quality in medical and nursing care, laboratory services, rehabilitative therapy, social services and clinical research. The program is a member of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

The Sutter Blood and Marrow Transplant Program's team works with those patients facing transplantation, their families and referring physicians to help patients successfully complete each step of this journey. Along the way, the team provides the highest quality care and personalized service.

Our Team

The Sutter Cancer Center Blood and Marrow Transplant Program is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of experts including transplant physicians, nurse coordinator, dieticians, social workers, pharmacists, and transplant-educated inpatient staff. The team receives additional support from Sutter Health's full complement of specialists available to provide care as needed.

The program's medical director is Michael Carroll, M.D. Dr. Carroll has been involved in thousands of transplants through out his career, and has performed more than 150 transplants himself in the past three years. He is a blood-related cancer and blood and marrow transplantation specialist committed to providing patients with the finest integrated, comprehensive therapy for acute leukemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes, lymphoma (including Hodgkin's disease), chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myeloproliferative diseases, aplastic anemia and germ cell tumors.

To learn more, contact his office at (916) 453-5830.

Collection of Stem Cells
In the past, the only way to collect stem cells was by removing bone marrow directly from the donor's pelvic bone (bone marrow harvesting). While still done in certain situations, doctors today most often collect stem cells from the donor's blood (peripheral stem cell collection).

Peripheral Stem Cell Collection
Peripheral stem cell collection is performed on an outpatient basis through the center's Apheresis Service. Prior to collection, doctors increase the number of stem cells available and move them from the bone marrow into the bloodstream by giving the patient or donor a blood hormone or growth factor called G-CSF (Neupogen®). After a few days of daily G-CSF injections, when white blood cell counts are high enough, stems cells are collected through a procedure called apheresis. During apheresis, blood is slowly run through a specialized machine, the needed cells are removed, and the blood is returned to the patient.

The collection is done using a flexible line to draw blood from the arm or through a central-line catheter inserted with a minor surgical procedure. The blood is removed from the donor a little at a time through a blood separator, which is a centrifuge that separates the stem cells from the rest of the blood cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor and the stem cells are sent to the cryopreservation laboratory to be tested, processed and frozen for future use. It usually takes one to three days of collection to collect enough stem cells for a transplant.

Bone Marrow Harvest
Prior to the procedure, the donor will need to donate two to three units of blood that will be returned to him/her during the harvest procedure. The transplant physician or coordinator will make these arrangements.

When the donor completes testing and donates the blood needed, surgery is scheduled at Sutter Medical Center at our Sutter General Hospital campus. While the donor is asleep (under anesthesia), doctors remove bone marrow from the backside of the hipbones by inserting a needle several times into the inner space of the bone and withdrawing the marrow. The stem cells may be processed and given to the recipient the same day or they may be sent to the cryopreservation laboratory to be tested, processed and frozen for future use. The donor usually spends six hours in the hospital after the procedure and may return to work/school in two to three days.