A New Era of Hope with Bone Marrow Transplant and CAR T-Cell Therapy Program Expansion

At Valley Children’s, a profound transformation is underway that will redefine how children in the Central Valley receive some of today's most advanced cancer treatments. Through the Dr. Vonda Lee Crouse Bone Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy Program, the hospital is laying the groundwork to offer pediatric CAR T‑cell therapy and enhanced bone marrow transplant services locally for the first time. This milestone marks not just scientific achievement, but a commitment to keeping families close to home during the most challenging moments of their lives.

Bone marrow transplants have been saving lives for decades by replacing a child’s diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy stem cells, restoring the body’s ability to produce blood cells. And CAR T‑cell therapy is reshaping pediatric cancer care by using a child’s own immune system to target and eliminate cancer.

“In simple terms, CAR T-cell therapy is a form of treatment that uses a person’s own immune cells to attack and kill their cancer cells,” said Dr. Vinod Balasa, Valley Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Medical Director. Unlike chemotherapy, which he describes as “a shotgun approach,” CAR T‑cell therapy precisely targets cancer cells while sparing healthy ones and can remain active in the body long after treatment.

The program’s rapid acceleration is supported by a state‑of‑the‑art cell processing lab, now under construction. Purpose‑built to safeguard living cell products, the facility includes aseptic processing rooms, continuous environmental monitoring, closed‑system technology, controlled‑rate freezing and vapor‑phase liquid nitrogen storage.

Designed to comply with Good Tissue Practice regulations and align with FDA Good Manufacturing Practice standards, the lab ensures sterility, identity and viability from the moment cells are collected to the moment they are returned to the patient.

Behind the scenes, Valley Children’s has already achieved several major milestones: a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- and Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT)‑aligned quality management plan, fully developed standard operating procedures, BlueCord electronic quality systems and forthcoming Epic cell and gene therapy integration. These foundational steps are essential for the program’s planned launch of both autologous stem cell transplantation and CAR T‑cell therapy.

This progress is more than operational; it’s deeply personal. Each year, Valley Children’s supports more than a dozen children who must travel outside the region for CAR T‑cell therapy or bone marrow transplant — or sometimes both.

Among them was 8-week-old Royce Madrid, who was stricken with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rapidly growing cancer that attacks the blood and bone marrow. He first underwent a bone marrow transplant, with his father as donor. Several months after, however, he relapsed and his health was further compromised by a severe case of the flu and a respiratory infection. Placed on life support until he recovered from the infection, he then received CAR T‑cell therapy at Stanford University.  

“CAR T saved him,” his father Rudy said. “And we strongly believe that.”

Today, Royce is a thriving 4-year-old who races through clinic hallways during his checkups. “I actually call Royce my miracle baby,” said Kelly Folmer, Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

For Valley Children’s leaders, the significance of this moment is not only scientific, it’s generational.

“I am honored to be part of a renowned team because, together, we will elevate excellence by expanding the highest level of care while honoring family, community and continuity,” said Dr. Rajat Sharma, Clinical Program Director for the Dr. Vonda Lee Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. “For many families, life-saving cellular therapy has required traveling across the state and even nationally. By bringing this care here, children can remain close to home and surrounded by their support systems while receiving world-class treatment.”

As construction progresses, teams expand, and accreditation efforts advance, the vision is clear: a regional center of excellence that provides world‑class, life‑saving therapy close to home. For Central Valley families, it marks the beginning of a new era, one where hope, healing and the most advanced cancer treatments are finally within reach.