Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) is home to the largest hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplant program in Quebec. The unit treats adults with different blood and immune system diseases: acute and chronic leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms, as well as bone marrow failure and immunodeficiency.
HSC transplantation is often the only hope of survival and cure for these patients. All types of transplants are therefore performed at the HRM: autologous transplants and allogeneic transplants using blood or bone marrow from compatible family donors or haploidentical donors, from unrelated donors, or from umbilical cords from world banks and registries. Every year, about 180 transplants are performed at our hospital, which has been a national pioneer in this field since 1980.
Through translational and clinical research activities, the research team is helping to improve many aspects of HSC transplantation:
- improve grafts by increasing the number of stem cells from umbilical cords and bone marrow
- decrease graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) through better prediction, improved prevention, and new treatments
- reduce infectious complications through the use of antiviral T-cells and improved vaccination after transplant
New cell immunotherapy modalities, such as cultured or genetically modified T cells (CAR-T), are also used at our centre to treat hematological cancers. These cellular immunotherapy and HSC transplantation activities are carried out by clinician researchers who have developed extensive expertise over many decades and who, thanks to their close ties with researchers at the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CR-HMR) and the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer of Université de Montréal (IRIC), are contributing to major developments that are expected in the coming years.