A 2023 federal report shows that for the years 2019-2021, the USC Norris Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy Program, an adult-only program of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of Keck Medicine of USC, was one of 12 allogeneic transplant programs in the United States to experience a higher-than-expected one-year survival rate for its patients.

While the predicted one-year survival rate for Keck Medicine during this time period was 79%, the actual one-year survival rate turned out to be 89.2%, a difference of over 10 points.

To establish the numbers for the report, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research — a federally mandated program — received and analyzed data on one-year survival rates from 178 allogeneic transplants centers across the United States.

Each annual report analyzes three consecutive years of one-year-survival rates, ending with a one-year gap between the last measured year and the year of the report. For example, the 2020 report includes data from the years 2016-2018.

This is the fourth annual report in a row that has shown Keck Medicine achieving a higher-than-expected one-year survival rate for adult allogeneic transplant programs, meaning the achievement is consistent for the years 2016-2021.

The USC Norris Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy Center’s success with patients is partly due to the use of advanced cellular therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. The CAR T-cell program, led by Preet M. Chaudhary, MD, PhD, director of the USC Norris Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy Program, employs a multidisciplinary team approach to provide comprehensive care tailored specifically to each patient’s needs.

USC Norris’s blood and marrow transplant specialists also rely on the latest advances in blood and marrow transplant science, including antifungal and antiviral drugs, plus newer preoperative modalities and complication-management practices.

Chaudhary says the most important contributing factor to the center’s high success rate is the team that contributes to the care of each patient, citing not only the doctors, nurses and pharmacists but also specialists in intensive care, radiation therapy and pathology, as well as staffers like social workers, patient navigators, coordinators and the hospital’s finance department.

“They all work very hard, and we are extremely proud of everything they do,” Chaudhary said.

— Kate Faye