History of the Registry Sub

The ANZTCT Registry, formerly the Australasian Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient Registry (ABMTRR), has recently rebranded to emphasize its closer ties with ANZTCT, continues to record details of stem cell transplants in Australia and New Zealand.

Established in 1992, the registry was fully funded by the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation and, from 2001 to 2014, received additional funding from the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABDR) for the collection of unrelated donor transplant information. Partial funding was also provided by NSW Health through the Clinical Initiative Enhancement Funding to the Greater Metropolitan Transitional Taskforce (now the Agency for Clinical Innovation, ACI) from 2003 to 2010. Since 2010, the registry has been funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

The registry was initially located in a converted terrace in Darlinghurst, Sydney, which was owned by St Vincent’s Hospital and shared with BMT Network NSW. In 2012, the registry moved to its current location at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre in Darlinghurst. Today, the ANZTCT Registry is located in a modern, open-plan office shared with research and clinical trials staff from St Vincent’s Hospital Haematology and Oncology and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

In 2013, the registry implemented ASTRO (Australasian Stem Cell Transplant Registry Online), which has improved data access and reduced paperwork for hospitals.

Old Copy

History of the Registry

The ABMTRR was established in 1992 to record details of bone marrow, peripheral blood and later cord blood stem cell transplants in Australia. New Zealand began contributing data in 1998.  The ABMTRR was located in a converted terrace owned by St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney, sharing the premises with BMT Network NSW.  St Vincent’s Hospital provides the administrative structure of Human Resources, Information Technology and support services. Initially the ABMTRR was fully funded by the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation. From 2001-2014, the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) subsidised a collection of more detailed information for unrelated donor transplants. NSW Health contributed to the part time salary of a statistician from 2003-2010, through clinical initiative enhancement funding to the Greater Metropolitan Transitional Taskforce (GMTT), now the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI). Since July 2010 the ABMTRR has received operational funding from all Australian Governments, through the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

In October 2012 the ABMTRR office moved to The Kinghorn Cancer Centre in Victoria St, Darlinghurst. We now share a modern open plan office with research and clinical trials staff from St Vincent’s Hospital Haematology and Oncology and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. ASTRO (Australasian Stem cell Transplant Registry Online) replaced the previous database system in 2013, helping to reduce paperwork and giving hospitals better access to their own data.

What does the ABMTRR do?

The ANZTCT Registry was established to record details of bone marrow, peripheral blood and cord blood stem cell transplants throughout Australia and New Zealand. Other cellular therapies such as CAR-T are also included in the registry.

As well as an Annual Data Summary, the ANZTCT Registry provides data for research projects and ad hoc requests from clinicians, researchers and government officials. The information may be used for publications in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences (both local and international) and used by hospital and government departments for planning purposes.

The ANZTCT Registry gratefully acknowledges the funding received from all Australian Governments for the operation of the registry.

The Registry Team

Manager
Data Coordinator/Data Operations Lead
Data Analyst/Technical Lead
Project Officer
Project Officer

ABMTRR Annual Data Summary 2022

Every year the ANZTCT Registry produces an Annual Data Summary, which describes the latest transplant activity in Australia and New Zealand. Over time there have been changes in the types of transplants performed, diseases being treated, age at transplant and stem cell source. Some survival data are also included. The Annual Data Summary is provided free of charge to contributing clinicians, and is available for purchase by other interested parties.

Bone Marrow Transplants

Haemopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT), often referred to as ‘bone marrow transplants’ or ‘blood and marrow transplants’ (BMT), are used to treat a range of both haematological and non-haematological malignancies and other serious blood conditions in adults and children. Indications may include acute and chronic leukaemias, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, solid tumours such as medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, and other conditions such as aplastic anaemia and immunodeficiencies.

The stem cells may come from bone marrow, peripheral blood or cord blood. Transplants can be autologous, where the patient’s own stem cells are harvested and then returned after high-dose conditioning chemotherapy, or allogeneic, where the stem cells come from a donor. Allogeneic donors may be related to the patient, such as a sibling or parent, or unrelated. Unrelated donors are sourced from donor registries and cord blood banks worldwide.

To find out about becoming a donor, please visit the ABMDR website.