Health care
BY BEN THOMPSON
Cell therapy advances at St. David’s
The takeaway
St. David’s offerings have expanded since launching in 2014 with only one treatment type. While it’s not an academic center, Ramakrishnan said physicians still do a lot of research and work with professionals across the national therapy network. The program has now served more than 1,000 people. “When I got here in 2014, they told me we were going to do about six procedures for the first year. I think we did 27. People have just been flocking here,” he said. “We’re grateful that, again, we’re able to provide these services to the community.” Ramakrishnan said service improvements, added clinical trials and possible new office spaces around Austin are possible in the program’s future.
For over a decade, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center has offered the city’s only selection of cellular therapies for various blood cancers. Through the Sarah Cannon Transplant & Cellular Therapy Network, hundreds of patients have had access to different types of transplant treatments while being able to stay close to home. “Imagine having to drive to another city where the service is available. That’s a big burden,” Program Director Dr. Aravind Ramakrishnan said. “They have these diseases, they’re horrible, they have to drive to their appointment, they have to spend all this time, they often need a caregiver. It really upends their life. To keep them home in their bed around their support network, I think it’s huge for the patients.”
St. David’s South Austin facility provides three specific cellular cancer treatments. Treatment types Autologous transplant Patients’ own stems cells are harvested while they’re treated with high-dose chemotherapy, before cells are reintroduced to patients. This treats cancers like multiple myeloma and Hodgkins lymphoma. Allogeneic transplant Patients are evaluated for a transplant over several months, and a cell donor is selected and then treated with chemo or radiation before cells are transfused. This treats cancers like leukemia. CAR T-cell therapy Immune cells from the patient or a donor are extracted and genetically modified. Patients receive treatment like chemo before the cells are infused to target cancers. This treats cancers like lymphoma.
SOURCE: ST. DAVID’S HEALTHCARE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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