GMCT Blood and Marrow Transplant Network
Co-Chairs: Tony Dodds and Vicki Antonenas
Outline
Blood and Marrow Transplantation has been increasingly used since the late 1960's as a treatment for primary bone marrow disorders such as leukaemia or immune deficiency diseases, and also in the treatment of malignancies where transplantation enables the use of large doses of chemotherapy.
Transplantation can be either autologous (where the patient has previously donated their own bone marrow), or allogeneic (where the donor is a tissue-matched related or unrelated donor). Allogeneic are more complex than autologous transplantations and risk is further increased where the allogeneic donor is unrelated. More than 250 autologous and 150 allogeneic transplants are carried out in NSW each year.
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Network NSW (BMT Network) was established in November 2002 as a result of the GMTT initiatives and now encompasses all 14 hospitals in NSW, plus The Canberra Hospital. The BMT Network continues to be a clinician-led enterprise that has facilitated many new initiatives.
