Ten years after the first inspection of a candidate European centre, an EBMT registry analysis suggests that clinical outcome is improved when hematopoietic SCT is performed in a JACIE accredited program.

In 2010, JACIE, the Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT (International Society for Cell Therapy) Europe and EBMT (European group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) celebrated the tenth anniversary of the first inspection of a European hematopoietic SCT program. JACIE standards establish the criteria for a comprehensive quality management program that covers all three major domains of activity that are necessary for the delivery of HSCT: clinical, collection and processing, as well as their interactions with ancillary and supportive activities. Although more than 200 European programs have applied for JACIE accreditation, and more than 100 have been granted accreditation, a recent retrospective analysis of the large-size EBMT registry of autologous and allogenic hematopoietic HSCT demonstrates that one of the factors affecting the overall survival of recipients of allogenic transplantation is the status of the transplant program regarding JACIE accreditation. This provides one of the first demonstrations that introduction of a quality management system contributes to the overall survival of patients treated with a highly specific medical procedure, and represents a milestone in the implementation of JACIE.