New era in cancer treatment: Baptist MD Anderson to launch cellular therapy and stem cell program

As part of Baptist Health’s ongoing commitment to advancing cancer care in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia, the health system is launching a Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This innovative program will offer lifesaving treatments for hematologic (blood) cancers and other serious conditions using the body’s own cells and will be launched in two phases:

1. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T) in the first quarter of 2025
2. Stem cell transplantations in late 2025

“We deeply value the trust our patients place in us, and we aim to provide them with the best possible experience and the widest range of treatment options available,” said LeeAnn Mengel, RN, MBA, CMPE, FACHE, vice president and administrator of Baptist MD Anderson. “This program will allow us to offer innovative, potentially lifesaving therapies, ensuring patients receive the cancer care they need close to home.”

Phase One: New frontier in cancer therapy

Phase one of the program will introduce CAR T therapy, which is a form of immunotherapy that reprograms a patient’s own T cells (white blood cells) to recognize and eliminate cancer cells more effectively. T cells are collected from the patient’s blood, genetically modified in a lab, and then reintroduced back into the patient’s body. This therapy has shown considerable promise in treating blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, offering hope to patients not responding to traditional treatments.

Cellular therapies like CAR T therapy are revolutionizing the treatment of blood cancers and other diseases. Unlike traditional cancer treatments that use drugs, radiation, or surgery to target tumors, cellular therapies harness the body’s own immune system to detect and eliminate cancer cells. They can be used in addition to traditional cancer treatments or serve as alternatives for patients not responding to conventional treatments.

“This is a new frontier in cancer therapy,” said hematologist oncologist Maxim Norkin, MD, PhD, who will serve as the medical director of the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program. “These cutting-edge therapies are improving outcomes for patients with previously hard-to-treat cancers.”

Addressing the potential impact of cellular therapies, medical oncologist Tom Dragovich, MD, PhD, head of the division of cancer medicine at Baptist MD Anderson, said: “Although they were used for blood and bone marrow cancers, we’re now seeing some promising results in patients with sarcomas and certain types of brain tumors. With ongoing clinical research, we believe this type of treatment will be used successfully for many more types of cancer.”

Phase Two: Stem cell transplantations

Phase two of the program will introduce stem cell transplantations in late 2025. These will be performed in a special inpatient unit currently being renovated at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville.

Stem cell transplantations help restore the body’s ability to produce oxygen-carrying red blood cells and rebuild the immune system, especially after intensive treatments like chemotherapy or radiation. It involves replacing damaged or diseased stem cells found in peripheral blood or bone marrow with healthy ones from either the patient or a donor.

Grateful patients Bob and Patricia Paquette from Hilton Head, South Carolina, have endowed the program ensuring its future with a generous gift of $1 million in addition to supporting other funds they established to help fuel innovation at Baptist MD Anderson. The couple previously established the Hematological Cancer Medical Fund, aimed at supporting the malignant hematology team with a focus on bone marrow transplants, and the Robert L. Paquette Jr. and Patricia A. Paquette Hematologic Malignancy Fund, which aids research, training, and patient education in blood and lymphatic cancers.

Initially, CAR T therapy and stem cell transplantations will be offered to a very select group of patients, with plans to expand the program and make these treatments more widely available within a year.

“The program represents a transformative step in advancing cancer care in our community and beyond, providing treatments here in Jacksonville that have previously been available only at selected university medical centers,” said Bill Putnam, MD, FACS, medical director of Baptist MD Anderson. “As an academic-community hybrid, our cancer center is fulfilling our region’s need for access to these lifesaving therapies.”