A person in the US is diagnosed with blood cancer every three minutes. September was Leukemia Awareness Month. Denise, one of the co-founders of Color of Biotech MA, is working to raise awareness and encourage everyone who qualifies, but especially Black people, to donate to the registry.
Every year, 18,000 patients are diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers or other blood disorders that could be cured or treated with a blood stem cell transplant. But 70% of them don’t have a fully matched donor in their family. They depend on a donor registry to find an unrelated donor.
The discrepancy is stark. While whites have an 80% chance of a match, if you are African American, or Black Caribbean you have about a 15% chance of finding a match (in 2017). You have a 25% chance of a match with a sibling.
The New England Journal of Medicine, July 24, 2014; HLA Match Likelihoods for Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Grafts in the U.S. Registry https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1311707
N Engl J Med 2014; 371:339-348
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa1311707
Join a community of over 41 million donors
Several types of life threatening blood cancer and a few other genetic disorders, like sickle cell disease, can be fully cured by a blood stem cell, marrow, or cord blood transplantation if a suitable donor can be found. Although there are already many donors, there is still a need for more. For the 40% of patients, we are unable to find a matched donor, (especially for patients with mixed-race or from ethnic minorities) suitable donors are lacking.
While some registries only take donors from 18 years old to age 35 or 40, worldwide registry guidelines allow donors between the ages of 18 and 60 and in general good health. The Caribbean Bone Marrow Registry (caribbeanmarrow.org) accepts donors from the age of 18 to 40 years old (free thru their agreement with Be The Match) and 40 to 60 years old (cost $80+).
The link to contact Be The Match for a donor kit:
https://my.bethematch.org/CaribeRegistry
Text CaribeRegistry to 61474
Being a donor is simple – All it involves is a cheek swab. Cheek swabs are tested for HLA markers to see if you match patients in the registry or future patients who need lifesaving transplants. They do not test your DNA for any other purpose. You will have to complete a short health questionnaire and sign a form stating that you understand what it means to be listed in the Registry.
There are several criteria that may affect your eligibility to become a donor, such as your age, weight, health, and where you live. In general, most countries allow donors between the ages of 18-60, and have weight criteria (a BMI of no greater than 40kg/m2 is considered acceptable). If you have been diagnosed with a chronic disease or a blood disorder, you may not be eligible to donate.
For a list of the most common health conditions that could prevent someone from donating blood stem cells or bone marrow, or if you are interested in getting more information, and/or hosting a donor event, please contact Denise at colorofbiotechma@icloud.com. We are particularly looking for Black donors and organizations/ churches/ companies to partner with in the US, Jamaica, Dominica, & USVI. We will continue to expand this list.
If you are interested in donating to offset the cost of processing donor kits for 40 – 60 year olds, please use this link: www.worldmarrowfund.org.
Please spread the word!! Be added to the registry & save a life!
Sources: Caribbean Bone Marrow Registry, The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), The Gift of Life, The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)