Islet Cell Transplant Program

The well-established leadership in Transplant Servics allows us to take advantage of advances in the development of investigative drugs and devices. As a result, our patients sometimes benefit from new treatments years before they become standard protocols.

The islet cell research program is an example of a new study with life-changing implications for type I diabetes patients. The Pancreas Center at Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) is making great strides in the area of pancreas islet cell transplantation. In March 2006, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX became the first center in Texas to receive FDA permission to independently process pancreatic islet cell for transplantation. Islet cell transplantation is a promising experimental procedure on which BUMC has made great advances in conducting research and clinical trial.

How Does Islet Cell Transplantation Work?

Worldwide research is being done on this complex procedure in which islets are taken from the pancreas of a nonliving organ donor, purified, processed and then transferred into a patients liver. The beta cells begin to make and release insulin once implanted, and the liver begins assuming the role of a backup pancreas.

Successful islet cell transplantation may represent a pivotal development in diabetes management, potentially allowing physicians more blood glucose control than ever before possible. It also may represent a critical breakthrough for type I diabetes patients, whose disease puts them at risk of such serious complications as heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney damage.

Such important clinical trials can only take place in an organization with a long-term investment in research and the wholehearted determination to shed light on some of the most enigmatic diseases of our time.

Islet Cell Transplant Volumes