About Us
Nationally Recognized
Our team of compassionate caregivers includes highly experienced and skilled physicians who are board certified in hematology and oncology and thought leaders and innovators in their respective fields. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) physicians are nationally recognized for advancing care for malignant blood disorders through their research, clinical trials, publications and society leadership positions, as well as for training Harvard Medical School students and providing graduate medical education.
Range of Therapies
Under the direction of David Avigan, MD, who is renowned for his work in cancer vaccine development, our hematologic malignancies program offers a range of therapies, including:
- Comprehensive chemotherapy strategies
- Autologous stem cell and bone marrow transplants
- Allogeneic stem cell and bone marrow transplants from related and matched unrelated donors and cord units
- Non-myeloablative allogeneic “mini” transplants, which use a less aggressive combination of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy before stem cell transplant
- Cancer immunotherapy that harnesses your own immune system to fight cancer
- Radioimmunotherapy which uses an antibody tagged with radiation to target cancer cells
Clinical Excellence
Beth Israel Deaconess is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) – Harvard’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. We collaborate extensively on clinical trials with the DF/HCC. We are also affiliated with the:
- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)
- Clinical Trials Network (CTN)
- National Cancer Institute (NCI)
NMDP Certified
BIDMC is a certified site of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). The NMDP provides access to donors from around the world through a registry of more than 5 million possible donors.
FACT Accredited
Additionally, in recognition of our extensive services and achievements, we are accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), a further mark of clinical excellence in bone marrow transplantation.
Leading-Edge Programs
BIDMC caregivers are focused on developing and providing novel approaches to care that are less toxic and improve efficacy while reducing treatment-related complications. These approaches include standard treatment protocols (guidelines) and clinical trials – research studies that are designed to find better treatments for cancer patients based on the most updated information from around the country.
Clinical Trials
Central to the core of our program, and what distinguishes our care here, are the clinical trials we offer.
As a founding member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), Beth Israel Deaconess is part of the largest cancer research consortium in the country, with access to a broad array of the most current clinical trials. At BIDMC, our robust clinical trials program includes leukemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma and bone marrow transplant treatment studies. Ask your physician if you qualify for one of the research studies we offer. You can also learn more about clinical trials at BIDMC.
Cancer Vaccines
In collaboration with investigators at other Harvard teaching hospitals, BIDMC has established a nationally recognized program for cancer vaccines. Potent antigen-presenting cells, known as dendritic cells, are fused to patient tumor cells, and then reintroduced into the patient as a vaccine in an effort to stimulate the development of tumor-reactive immune cells. The vaccine may trigger the immune system to view the tumor cells as foreign, and the body generates a personalized immune response to target and destroy the particular cancer. Clinical trials studying vaccines are available for certain patients with multiple myeloma, kidney cancer, beast cancer, melanoma and ovarian cancer.
Radioimmunotherapy
Combining a source of radiation, such as a radioisotope, with a component of the immune system, such as an antibody, radioimmunotherapy delivers targeted radiation to patients with certain types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Some patients may qualify for radioimmunotherapy offered as part of a clinical trial; others may benefit from standard treatment guidelines available for this type of therapy.
Reduced-Intensity Allogeneic Transplants (Mini-Transplants)
BIDMC has participated in developing strategies to reduce the toxicity of donor transplants. These “mini-transplants” harness the anti-tumor effects of the donor’s immune system with lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation compared to traditional bone marrow transplantation. As a result, treatment and recovery are easier, making the procedure more feasible for some patients who, because of age or medical complications, would otherwise not be candidates. Some patients may qualify for clinical trials studying mini-transplants, while others may be better suited for standard treatment guidelines.
Caring, Compassionate Team
A hallmark of our service is the warm, personalized and supportive relationship we have with patients and families. Our expert multidisciplinary team includes:
- Hematologists and oncologists (doctors with extensive training in diagnosing and treating all types of blood cancers and disorders)
- Hematology and oncology fellows (fully qualified doctors training in oncology)
- Nurse practitioners
- Physician assistants
- Transplant nurse coordinators
- Oncology nurses
- Research nurses
- Clinical research coordinators
- Nurse case managers
- Licensed social workers
- Resource specialists to help with issues such as lodging, transportation and insurance
- Patient navigators
- Blood bank and stem cell physicians
- Pathologists and hematopathologists (pathologists with special training in blood analysis)
- Stem cell laboratory specialists
- Clinical laboratory technicians
- Various other medical, support and administrative staff
Continuity of Care
Our comfortable outpatient treatment area and 24-bed inpatient unit are solely dedicated to caring for blood cancers and bone marrow transplantation. You can expect your doctors to spend an exceptional amount of one-on-one time with you and your family throughout your course of treatment. In fact, one of our program strengths is true continuity of care, so you can see the same physician from treatment to follow-up, for comfort, peace of mind, and easy accessibility to your doctor of choice.
Nursing Experience
Our nurses also have extensive experience, and have undergone intensive training in caring for transplant patients. They have completed the Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy and biotherapy training program, and many have gone on to become oncology-certified nurses. Additionally, many nurses are members of both the national and Boston chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society.
Team Collaboration
We discuss patient cases in weekly, multidisciplinary team conferences that include the tumor board (for patients with biopsy results), the bone marrow transplant conference (for patients on the transplant list now or in the near future), and the inpatient conference (for patients who are hospitalized). In these conferences, our team discusses your particular diagnosis and the best treatment options for you. This collaborative approach to evaluation and treatment:
- Enhances diagnostic accuracy
- Promotes stage-based treatment, to guide the most appropriate care, based on the type and extent of your cancer
- Gives you the broadest range of treatment alternatives
- Customizes the care you receive
- Provides truly personalized service
Personalized Attention
As an academic medical center, BIDMC offers key advantages in transplant experience. Our autologous program opened in 1983, and our allogeneic program opened in 1999. We offer access to the latest research and investigational therapies, distinguished by a level of personalized attention few centers can match. Our hematologic malignancies program is just the right size so our doctors and nurses know all of our patients, and the doctor of your choice can guide and follow your progress through all phases of care and treatment.
