MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper has officially achieved accreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) for its Blood & Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program. The milestone establishes the Camden-based facility as the only provider of stem cell transplant services in the southern half of New Jersey.
The credentialing means that South Jersey oncology patients requiring highly complex bone marrow transplants and advanced cellular therapies will no longer be forced to cross state lines into Philadelphia or travel to central New Jersey to receive care.
FACT accreditation is recognized internationally as the gold standard for quality, safety, and clinical excellence in cellular therapy. The rigorous vetting process evaluates every phase of a hospital’s program, including cell collection, laboratory processing, cryopreservation storage, and clinical patient administration.
Crucially, the accreditation unlocks broader insurance coverage. Patients carrying Medicare, Medicaid, and standard commercial health insurance can now receive a complete suite of sophisticated, state-of-the-art cellular therapies directly in their home community. These treatments include autologous stem cell transplants (which utilize a patient’s own harvested cells) as well as advanced Immune Effector Cell (IEC) treatments like Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and T-cell receptor therapy.
“Receiving FACT accreditation reflects the expertise and dedication of our multidisciplinary team and reinforces our commitment to delivering the highest level of care,” Dr. Generosa Grana, director of MD Anderson at Cooper said. “Most importantly, it ensures that patients in South Jersey can access advanced stem cell transplant and cellular therapies in their own community.”
The specialized program treats patients battling aggressive blood disorders and hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes. It also serves as a regional pipeline for pioneering clinical trials targeting solid tumors such as lung cancer, head and neck cancers, and melanoma.
Notably, MD Anderson at Cooper was the first center in the Philadelphia-South Jersey metropolitan region to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to patients fighting advanced melanoma.
“As cellular therapies continue to reshape cancer care, it’s critical that these treatments are delivered through programs with the experience and infrastructure to support them,” noted Dr. Roger Strair, director of the Blood & Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at the center, said.
