The James Cancer and Aging Resiliency (CARE) clinic is a leader in treating older cancer patients. Patients have been treated with blood and bone marrow transplants (BMTs) for more than 40 years, but, initially, only younger patients were eligible. “There was a bar set as low as 40-years-old when this was a brand-new technology,” said Sarah Wall, MD, MPH, a James hematologist who specializes in treating patients with blood cancers. “Then it was 55 and 60 and 65 and now there is no official upper-age cutoff … it comes down to the individual patient.” In this episode, Wall explains the basics of BMTs. “There are two types, autologous, where a patient gets their own stem cells back, and allogeneic, in which we use donor cells,” she said. Improvements in the drugs used to treat graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), which can occur in allogenic BMTs, have “really expanded the pool of donors for older adults who may only have siblings who are deceased or have had cancer themselves previously or some other disease that would make them ineligible,” Wall explained. “We have better drugs to prevent graft-versus-host-disease and to treat it when it does happen.” Several patients 70 and older have been treated with BMTs at the James. Wall said her oldest BMT patient is 80. “I have a [group] of the first three gentlemen 70 and older who I treated with a transplant all coming up to their five-year anniversary,” Wall said. “It’s a testament to them and to their families and caregiver support that they got through this. We’re the scaffolding they build this support on … and it’s very rewarding to be part of this and especially to open doors for people who thought they were closed.”