The bus is designed to expand access to lifesaving, next-generation treatments across nearly 70,000 square miles of underserved communities in South Texas.
SAN ANTONIO — South Texas is entering a new era in health care.
South Texas Blood & Tissue has launched what it calls the world’s only mobile cell therapy collection vehicle, recording its first donation just two weeks ago. The Advanced Therapies Bus is designed to expand access to lifesaving, next-generation treatments across nearly 70,000 square miles of underserved communities in South Texas.
The vehicle is equipped to perform leukapheresis and stem cell collections — procedures typically done in specialized medical centers.
“Patients or donors actually have to make the choice of not getting a particular treatment because they can’t travel or they can’t have a companion come out,” said Naomi Herrera, senior manager of clinical leukapheresis services. “This is going to help hopefully lift those financial burdens off of them.”
Unlike the organization’s traditional blood donation buses, this mobile unit houses the same sophisticated instruments used for stem cell collection in hospitals.
“The instruments that we have here on the bus is the same thing that we do if you think of stem cell collection, for maybe like a bone marrow transplant,” Herrera said. “We’re able to extract some of those stem cells that are floating around in our blood through these particular pieces of equipment — and this is to save lives.”
The collected cells are used to treat blood cancers, solid tumors, autoimmune diseases and other serious conditions. In some cases, doctors can modify or “train” cells from patients or donors to target genetic disorders with greater precision.
Officials say the therapy does not replace being on a donor registry but can help patients while they wait for a match.
For Herrera, the mission is personal. Her 25-year-old daughter, Taylor, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and died seven months later on April 28, 2019.
“She would say if she couldn’t find a match for herself, if she could find a match for someone that would bring her great joy,” Herrera said.
Taylor was able to travel to Houston for treatment — an option not available to every family in South Texas. Herrera said the new mobile unit could ease that burden for others facing similar battles.
“Instead of having patients or donors wait until an available machine or bed is open if they have to travel, we want to go to them, to eliminate that,” she said.
The Advanced Therapies Bus is expected to begin traveling throughout the region in the coming months, bringing advanced cell collection services directly to communities that have historically faced barriers to specialized care.