Penn Medicine's Blood Cancer Program has a long history of advancing the science of hematologic malignancies. Our research aims to uncover:
- Causes of blood cancers
- More accurate methods for diagnosis
- Most effective treatments with the fewest side effects
Patients who are diagnosed and treated at Penn may be eligible to participate in research studies. This gives them access to the most advanced options even before they are available elsewhere.
National Recognition and Partnerships
Our program is one of only a few research programs in the country approved and funded by the National Cancer Institute.
The National Institutes of Health named Penn Medicine one of the original 14 Core Clinical Transplant Centers in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Network. This national network works together to develop and conduct clinical trials to improve patient care.
Penn Medicine has also been:
- Designated as a research center for the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry/Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry (known as the CIBMTR)
- Designated as a transplant center for the National Marrow Donor Program
- Accredited for bone marrow and stem cell transplantation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy
We regularly partner with national cooperative groups, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, other leading cancer centers, foundations and industry.
Penn's Historic Contributions to Blood Cancer Research
Penn has made many major contributions to hematology:
- Developed the concept of chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T cell) therapy, a major advancement that’s becoming the gold standard for many types of blood cancers
- Pioneered positron emission tomography (PET) for the diagnosis and treatment of lymphoma
- Discovered the Philadelphia chromosome in patients with leukemia, establishing the first evidence of a genetic link to cancer
- Helped establish autologous bone marrow transplantation as the standard of care in certain types of blood cancer
- Worked to find ways to use alternate donors (mismatched siblings and unrelated volunteers) for transplantations
- Demonstrated efficacy of new preparatory regimens to decrease toxicity and improve outcomes of allogeneic transplants
Current Blood Cancer Research at Penn
Today and every day, our faculty continue to design, lead and conduct research to improve outcomes for patients all over the world:
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