"It didn't hurt or anything, it was just like a regular transfusion," says 12-year old Sarah, speaking casually of the bone marrow transplant procedure that saved her life. Read Sarah's Story.

Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant

Why choose SCCA?
Find out why SCCA is the best place for your child to receive a bone marrow transplant. Watch the video here.

Life-saving vision 
All that matters when your child is sick is that he gets better, and stays better. Serious illness requiring a stem cell transplant is a big deal, and in children it can be a very effective treatment tool.

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) is one of 28 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States (as designated by the National Cancer Institute) and has the largest bone marrow transplant center in the world.

Dr. E. Donnall Thomas pioneered bone marrow transplantation at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and received a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work. For the full story of Dr. Thomas' research and recognition, click here.

Transplantation has been used to treat many conditions, including:

• Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
• Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
• Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)
• Hodgkin lymphoma
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Brain tumors
• Neuroblastoma
• Ewing's sarcoma
• Wilms’ tumors
• Severe aplastic anemia
• Sickle cell anemia
• Other hereditary blood and autoimmune disorders.

As a result of our doctors’ expertise as pioneers in the field:

• Our transplant results are outstanding. 
• We treat high-risk patients. 
• We offer the latest therapies.  
• We have a unique long-term follow-up program.

To read about the latest innovations in stem cell transplants at SCCA, click here.

Pediatric transplant outcomes
At Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, the average amount of time it took for engraftment to occur in patients after transplant in 2005 was between 16 and 23 days:

• Autologous transplants: 22 days
• Sibling donors: 23 days
• Unrelated donors: 17 days
• Cord blood cells: 16 days.

Our patients are survivors
Survival rates for children 100 days after their transplant was 97.8 percent in 2006, improved from 95 percent in 2005, which was up from 85 percent in 2004.

After one year, survival rates for children transplant patients was equally encouraging, going from 75 percent in 2004 up to 82 percent in 2005.

Experience and research are improving transplant survival rates steadily year after year.

“We are proud to have such superb results for our pediatric transplant patients,” says Dr. Jean Sanders, director of pediatric transplantation at Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center.

Specific Program Information

• The Transplant Process
• How to Prepare for Transplant 
• Our Expert Physicians

You want the best for your child, and so do we. At SCCA, your child will receive excellent, world-class medical care in an environment designed to support your child and your entire family.

March 2007