Penn State Cancer Institute achieves international reaccreditation for expertise in stem cell transplantation

Penn State Cancer Institute has once again earned accreditation for stem cell transplantation from the international Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), giving patients lifesaving cancer treatment in central Pennsylvania.
Accreditation is required to perform stem cell transplants and remain part of the international network of donors that patients depend on for potentially lifesaving procedures for many blood cancers and blood diseases. The Cancer Institute has upheld this accreditation since 2000.
“With each reaccreditation, our stem cell therapy program continually raises the bar on safety, innovation and patient care,” said Dr. Shin Mineishi, medical oncologist and director of the bone marrow transplantation and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy programs at the Cancer Institute. “By meeting the most rigorous standards in every aspect of stem cell therapy, we also were recognized in the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research’s Final 2024 Transplant Center-Specific Survival Report for performing above expectations in transplant outcomes. We are one of only 12 programs out of 172 in the nation and the only program in Pennsylvania to achieve this honor.”
Organizations voluntarily seek and maintain FACT accreditation through a rigorous process, including peer-reviewed, on-site inspections, to ensure their clinical programs and personnel maintain the highest standards of care.
Dr. Kevin Rakszawski, medical director of the Cancer Institute, said this commitment extends to offering innovative treatments, such as CAR T-cell therapy, that meet patient needs.
“We are giving hope to patients and families by creating programs like gene therapy for sickle cell disease, expanding our adult cellular therapies and leading clinical trials on CAR T for lupus,” Rakszawski said. “We are excited by the many promising advances on the horizon.”
Since 1996, Penn State Cancer Institute has performed more than 3,400 stem cell transplants and continues to provide approximately 200 lifesaving stem cell transplants each year.
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