Expert Care for Malignant Blood Disorders at Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital, Turkey

Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Unit has been delivering state-of-the-art transplant and cellular therapies for over 30 years, through an experienced multidisciplinary team and a compassionate care environment for both adult and pediatric patients.

At Acıbadem Hematology Unit, we focus on the treatment of blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. These conditions require a comprehensive and personalized approach.

Depending on the condition, treatment may involve medications, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. When these options are not sufficient, bone marrow transplantation may offer a potential cure.
All of these treatment modalities are provided under one roof, eliminating the need for patients to move between hospitals. High-quality care is delivered in a warm, homely environment where patients feel at ease.

Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Team is internationally recognized for its expertise in delivering comprehensive and specialized care to patients with blood cancers. To date, more than 3,500 stem cell transplants have been performed.

Accessible Care from Around the World

Providing high-quality healthcare improves people’s lives. This is particularly important in blood diseases, which can be life-threatening. Specialized treatment modalities can be life-saving. It should also be accessible in terms of both cost and distance. At Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital, we provide advanced, affordable bone marrow transplant and cellular therapies in a modern hospital with comprehensive facilities, delivered by an experienced multidisciplinary team. Moreover, İstanbul is a global hub located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with close proximity to the Middle East and Africa. As a result, patients can reach us through direct flights from across these regions.

“The experience of medical, nursing, and technical staff enables consistent, reliable, and safe care for transplant patients. This treatment process usually takes several months to complete. Experience allows the continuous refinement of care, which ultimately improves transplant outcomes,” says Prof. Siret Ratip, Head of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital, with extensive experience in Hematology in both Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Acıbadem also houses a comprehensive Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, which provides transplant services for malignant hematology as well as benign hematologic diseases such as thalassemia. The head of the unit, Assoc. Prof. Koray Yalçın, MD, emphasizes that “Children are not simply small adults. Their biology, response to treatment, and drug metabolism are different. Cellular therapies may also vary, as cell fitness and mechanisms can differ in children. Therefore, pediatric patients require a specialized approach to care.”

In addition to delivering high-quality medical care, Acıbadem focuses on supporting both children and their families throughout the treatment process. A dedicated psychological team is available. The entire staff works to maintain a positive and reassuring environment. A specially designed setting helps children feel comfortable and at ease, creating an atmosphere more like a school garden than a hospital.

CAR T-Cell Therapy: The Most Advanced Treatment for Cancer

Despite today’s advanced chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and bone marrow transplantation methods, these treatments may fail in some cases of lymphoma and leukemia. As a result, a large number of patients may lose their lives due to these diseases. This is where CAR T-cell therapy comes in.

Prof. Ercüment Ovalı, MD, the pioneer of Academic CAR T-cell therapy in Turkey and Director of the Acıbadem Labcell Laboratory, remarks that “CAR-T is a therapy that genetically modifies a patient’s own T cells to attack cancer. In some patients, it can lead to deep and long-lasting remission. This represents a major advancement in treatment. However, success in CAR-T is not only about producing the cells. It also requires selecting the right patient, administering the treatment at the right time, managing side effects, and closely monitoring the biological characteristics of the CAR-T cells.”

CAR T-Cell Therapy Process at Acıbadem

After patients are assessed for suitability for CAR T-cell therapy, their cells are collected and processed at the Acıbadem Labcell Laboratory over a period of three to six weeks. Whilst awaiting CAR-T cell manufacture, the patient receives a treatment to prevent disease relapse. Once the CAR T cells are ready and quality checks are completed, patients are admitted to the cellular therapy unit, where they remain for approximately three weeks. The effect of CAR T cells is often rapid. By day 30, PET-CT scans in lymphoma or bone marrow analysis in B-ALL patients frequently show a positive response.

Success of CAR T-Cell Therapy

“So far, we have achieved a complete response rate of approximately 75% in B-ALL and an overall response rate of 80% in B-cell lymphomas. Of these, 60% are complete responses and 20% are partial responses. Most of these outcomes have been observed in a heavily pre-treated group of patients who had run out of choice of other treatments,” says Professor Siret Ratip.

Today, Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital has the capabilities to keep pace with rapidly advancing bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy technologies. As one of the first units to pioneer haploidentical transplantation in Turkey, Acıbadem is now the first center in the region to produce academic CAR-T cells.