Celebrating their 50th birthday this year, Stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan have spent the last half century matching donors to people in need of lifesaving treatment.
Anthony Nolan continue to work hard to encourage more sign ups to the stem cell donor register in order to save lives because five people a day have to begin their search for a stem cell donor in order to help treat their blood cancer or a blood disorder such as sickle cell disease.
People can only receive a donation from someone of a matching genetic profile to theirs and this often only happens with someone of the same ethnicity. Because there is a lack of black stem cell donors, this leaves black people less likely to be able to receive the lifesaving stem cell treatment they need.
To help boost the numbers of stem cell donors which in turn will help save lives, Anthony Nolan want to encourage more people to consider and eventually sign up to becoming a stem cell donor. Since being founded in 1974, Anthony Nolan has facilitated over 26,500 transplants for people around the world but there is still more work to be done.
Dr Amos Ogunkoya, an Anthony Nolan champion and celebrity GP, says, “‘If you’re aged 16-30 and in good health, your simple act of joining the Anthony Nolan register could help to close the gap in access to life-saving treatments for young people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Your decision to join could be someone’s lifeline, granting them a precious second chance.”
People from all walks of life are encouraged to sign up however there is a particular need for donations from black people and young men especially- with young men aged under 30 providing 50% of all donations but only 16% actually existing on the Anthony Nolan register. In short – supply is not matching demand.
Dr Amos Ogunkoya adds, “There can be hesitance amongst young Black people to sign up to stem cell donation because of their experiences – and their family’s experiences – in healthcare settings. Your medical information will be kept confidential and will only be used by Anthony Nolan to see if you could be a match for a patient in need of a lifesaving transplant.”
Donating stem cells is done in two ways – either via the bloodstream or via the bone marrow.
By Bloodstream
This is the most common way of donating stem cells – with 90% of donors using this method. It takes around four to five hours.
Anthony Nolan describes the process as follows:
- This type of donation takes place on an outpatient ward and during the process donors lie on a bed or reclining chair while a needle is put into each arm
- Blood is drawn out of one arm and fed into a machine – called an apheresis machine – that filters the stem cells out of the blood and also filters out some plasma, which the cells are suspended in.
- The stem cells and plasma are collected in a special bag while the red blood cells and remaining plasma is put back into the donor’s bloodstream through their other arm.
- Donors must stay as still as possible throughout the donation so a nurse will be on hand to help with eating or using the bathroom.
By Bone Marrow
This way is rare and is only done by 10% of donors
Anthony Nolan describes the process as follows:
- Donors are put under general anaesthetic and the procedure involves inserting a needle into the hip bone to collect blood enriched in stem cells. It takes about 30 minutes.
- Donors stay overnight for observations and are discharged the next morning.
Stem cell donor Doug said of his experience donating, ‘I’ll admit that at first, I was a bit nervous but I was mostly excited that I could help someone. On donation day, I sat in a hospital bed and they took blood from me, to transplant into the person who needs it. I thought it might take longer but it was only four hours.
“I just thought about myself and my family and friends. If they needed a stem cell transplant, I’d want there to be somebody who was a match for them. It’s important to get the word out. A lot of people don’t know they could be a match for someone who looks like them but if they were told about it, I think they would sign up.
“I’m really proud to be a donor. My mum and my partner are extremely proud – they told everybody! It’s nice knowing that what I did could save someone’s life. I’m extremely happy that I signed up.”
Stem cell donation recipient Iggie was born with sickle cell disease and received a stem cell transplant in 2019. Iggy said of her experience, “I’ve had sickle cell all my life and it wasn’t until I was about 18 that I really started having problems with it. I was having to stay in the hospital alone, so I was missing a lot of school. I completely lost my quality of life. I was quite scared to go ahead with it but at the same time, I felt like it was my only option if I really wanted to have a better quality of life.”
The process to sign up to become a donor is easy – after signing up online, you will be asked to answer a few general health questions and then after that, three swabs will be sent to you for HLA testing. Once the test confirms your HLA type, your data will be confidentially stored on a database and should you be a match for someone in need, Anthony Nolan will get in contact.
For more information, visit anthonynolan.org/GRMDaily.