It all started with a 17-year-old patient.
Let's say her name was Mary.
Mary was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant (BMT) from an unrelated donor. National Bone Marrow Donor Program.
“It was smooth, uneventful and ultimately completely successful,” said Dr. MUSC Hollings Cancer Center He retired in 2021.
This approach was not uncommon in 1996. What was unusual was that Stuart decided to perform the procedure as an outpatient.
“She had attentive parents and never got sick enough to require hospitalization,” he explained.
Unbeknownst to Stuart, or Mary, or her parents, Stuart and his patient had just pioneered the world's first outpatient matched unrelated transplant, according to the National Marrow Donor Program, and the publicity that followed the program's first announcement encouraged more cancer centers to offer outpatient transplants.
“It's a great honour to have the clinic named after me, but even more than that, I can't express how happy I am to know that my future patients will be supported in this way.”
Robert Stewart, MD
Doctors began to realize that for patients who were diagnosed early and were relatively healthy, outpatient treatment had many benefits: Patients were healthier and stronger, had a better quality of life as they recovered at home with their families, experienced fewer side effects, and avoided the possibility of contracting an infection in the hospital.
Outpatient procedures have become more common: At Hollings, half of autologous transplants, or transplants using a patient's own cells, are performed on an outpatient basis. As need grows — the number of adult patients receiving transplants at MUSC increased by more than 50% from 2018 to 2023 — more dedicated outpatient bone marrow transplant space is needed.
Then, on Aug. 2, MUSC leaders, former patients, donors and blood cancer teams came together to celebrate the grand opening of the new outpatient Robert K. Stuart, M.D. Blood and Marrow Transplant Center in the Ashley River Tower on MUSC’s Peninsula Charleston campus.
“More than 25 years after the world's first outpatient unrelated bone marrow stem cell transplant, we finally have this beautiful, functional, modern outpatient clinic that will expand and refine what I consider to be a noble endeavor,” Stuart told the assembled audience. “I am incredibly honored to have this clinic named after me, but even more than that, I am thrilled that my future patients will be supported in this way.”
He especially thanked two groups in attendance: former patients and the families of deceased patients. He noted that even after a patient has passed away, family members sometimes stay in touch to express their gratitude, calling their generosity “the ultimate humanity.”
“I want everyone to know how much it's meant to me these past few years,” he said, “and helped get me through some very dark times.”
The new outpatient clinic will have 16 IV chairs including an open day room, semi-private rooms, private rooms for patients with low white blood cell counts that make it harder to fight infection, a blood collection area where patients can get tested on-site, and two negative pressure rooms to treat patients with airborne diseases.
Michelle Hudspeth, MDThe director of adult and pediatric blood and marrow transplantation, said the program has experienced incredible growth and unimaginable challenges since 2019.
She highlighted the many team members, including nurse navigators, patient care assistants, quality and data analysts, business coordinators, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurses and physicians, who she said work together every day to build Stuart's legacy.
“This team that I have with me today has made that happen,” she said. “Why? Because we recognize that every patient that comes to us is someone's whole thing.”
Raymond N. Dubois, M.D., Ph.D.The director of the Hollings Cancer Center, noted that the design of the new clinic incorporated input from multiple perspectives, including patients, doctors and nurses.
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program is South Carolina's only FACT-certified combined adult and pediatric bone marrow transplant program and has performed more than 3,000 transplant procedures, Dubois said.
He thanked Stuart, whom he called a true pioneer, for building the program from the ground up.
And MUSC President David Cole, MD, praised Stuart, explaining that he was MUSC's first board-certified oncologist, even though there was no cancer center when Stuart arrived in 1985.
“Stuart had lofty goals, including creating a training program for future oncologists, improving care for South Carolinians and launching a bone marrow stem cell transplant program,” Cole said. “He accomplished all three and became a lifelong advocate for patients.”
“It's unfortunate that the word hero has become so generalized, especially since there are so many unsung heroes who should be appreciated and recognized for the great work they do,” Cole continued. “We have many such people before us today, but the one I want to highlight in particular is Dr. Robert K. Stuart.”
