Sanford Fargo Completes First Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplants

Sanford Health Fargo is now in the second phase of its bone marrow transplant program.

This past December, the Sanford Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant program completed its first allogeneic bone marrow transplant at the Roger Maris Cancer Center. An allogeneic bone marrow transplant is when bone marrow derived stem cells are collected from a healthy donor for a transplant. The donor can be a family member or someone unrelated to the patient. After the stem cells are collected, the patient then receives high dose chemotherapy followed by infusion of the donor stem cells. These stem cells help the patient recover from chemotherapy and can also recognize and attack the cancer.  

Be The Match is a registry of volunteer bone marrow stem cell donors. It offers patients in need of an allogeneic bone marrow transplant access to more than 39 million unrelated donors around the world who stand ready to be a life-saving bone marrow donor. To learn more on how to become a donor, visit bethematch.org

“Being able to perform allogeneic bone marrow transplants is a crucial step to our goal of becoming a regional destination for cancer care,” said Dr. Seth Maliske, Sanford Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant program director. “We all know someone who has been affected by cancer. Being able to offer this treatment close to home is something we pride ourselves on and something our patients deserve.”

In Oct. 2021, the Sanford Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant program completed its first bone marrow transplant. The first phase involved autologous transplants, which is when a patient’s own stem cells are collected and stored.  When the patient is ready, they then receive chemotherapy, with an infusion of their stem cells to follow. More than 30 autologous transplants have been completed at the Roger Maris Cancer Center. 

The third and final phase is CAR-T cell therapy, which is a type of immune therapy in which patient’s own T cells are collected and genetically modified to recognize their cancer.  Once engineered, these cells are infused back into the patient with the goal for the CAR-T cells to grow and attack the cancer cells. This treatment option is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2023. 

The ongoing goal of Sanford Blood Disorders and Bone Marrow Transplant Program is to bring high-quality care close to home.  This team is excited to now be able to offer allogeneic transplants to patients in need.