The C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (Program) helps patients who need a potentially life-saving bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. One part of this Program focuses on the behind-the-scenes details that are critical to helping patients:
- Collecting and analyzing data about patients who have received a transplant
- Bringing together doctors, medical experts and scientists to discuss new transplant-related ideas
- Examining the best ideas through research studies
A bone marrow or cord blood transplant replaces diseased blood-forming cells with healthy cells. When a person has a life-threatening disease, such as leukemia, lymphoma, or an inherited metabolic or immune system disorder, a bone marrow or cord blood transplant may be the best treatment option.
To help patients who need a transplant, doctors and scientists work together to collect and analyze thousands of pieces of data on patient outcomes. Using these data, research studies look at ways to improve procedures and help patients live longer, healthier lives. Significant discoveries in transplant research over the last decade have helped patients by:
- Offering more precise guidelines for matching donors and patients
- Improving the donor search process
- Identifying additional sources of cells for transplantation, such as cord blood
- Identifying the best timing for a transplant based on a patient's health and disease status
- Finding new ways to manage and reduce complications of transplantation
- Improving the quality of life for patients after transplant
These advances are based on many small steps. Each step is based on hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pieces of data that have been analyzed and studied. By sharing research studies with other doctors, scientists, and medical experts, researchers are able to develop and investigate more ideas. These data, ideas, and resulting studies are crucial to helping patients before, during, and after a bone marrow or cord blood transplant.
- Transplant Outcomes and Data—Read reports and view graphs about patient outcomes and the numbers of transplants performed.
- Donor Registry Data—View annual information about potential donors and donated cord blood units on the donor registry of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, also called the Be The Match Registry®.
- Biennial Reports—See reports describing the broad range of the Program's activities.
- Cord Blood Units for Research—Researchers can find a listing of cord blood banks that provide cord blood units for pre-clinical and clinical research.
