Blood, Marrow Transplant Survivors Will Celebrate Aug. 11

"Surviving cancer is worthy of commemoration for all of us," -- Jane Liesveld, M.D.

Survivors of blood and marrow transplants will gather for the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center’s special celebratory picnic from 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 11, at Buckland Park Lodge, 1341 Westfall Road. 

Transplant survivors young and old, and their families, are encouraged to attend the event, which features Brug’s Country Barbecue. Participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for catered picnicking outdoors.

Advance registration is requested by calling (585) 275-5830.

“Surviving cancer is worthy of commemoration for all of us,” said Jane Liesveld, M.D., clinical director of the Samuel E. Durand Blood and Marrow Transplant Center at the Wilmot Cancer Center, located at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The Wilmot Cancer Center is the only site in the Finger Lakes Region to offer blood or marrow transplants and the doctors and nurses perform about 120 each year. It is the largest program in Upstate New York and is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Hematopoietic Cell Therapy.

Blood and marrow transplantation is the accepted therapy for several conditions – acute myelogenous and lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic myelocytic leukemia, aplastic anemia, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neuoblastoma, as well as a variety of other inherited diseases.

The doctors and nurses at Wilmot provide three types of transplants: autologous transplants using a person’s own stem cells or marrow removed previously; allogenic transplant using cells or marrow from a relative with similar genes; or an unrelated transplant, using cells or marrow from a stranger with similar genes.

The center has seen significant success, with 100-day survival rates exceeding national benchmarks in all categories for marrow and stem cell transplants.