Life Registry: How the Bone Marrow Registry works and how to become a donor
In 2020, 204 bone marrow transplant operations were performed in Ukraine, and in 2021 their number is planned to more than double. In general, transplant operations in our country began only in 2019, when they passed a law regulating organ transplants. Now, Ukraine even has a special register of bone marrow donors. We talk about how it works and who can become a donor.
Why bone marrow transplantation is needed and how it is performed in Ukraine
Currently, two types of bone marrow transplantation are performed in Ukraine: autologous, when the patient receives his own bone marrow, and collagen - from a family or third-party donor.
Only in April 2020, in Ukraine for the first time a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. The operation was performed at the National Children’s Specialized Hospital "Okhmatdyt".
"In Ukraine, a bone marrow was transplanted from an unrelated donor to the boy Nazarchyk. He is a little over a year old. And a German citizen shared his cells with him, " wrote Iryna Zaslavets, founder of the IDonor: All-Ukrainian Donation Platform Charitable Foundation, on her Facebook page.
She said the donor had been found by the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Foundation, which had gained access to the international registry.
As of mid-February 2021, Ukraine has already performed five such bone marrow transplant operations from an unrelated donor.
Recall that bone marrow transplantation can be performed for various reasons. Thus, it restores stem cells that are destroyed after chemotherapy, is considered an effective method of treating diseases of the blood system, immunodeficiency and autoimmune diseases of the nervous system.
It has been proven that bone marrow transplantation, which contains stem cells, can restore normal hematopoiesis in more than forty of his malignant diseases. And more than 75% of transplants are performed because of malignant diseases.
How the register of bone marrow donors works
Charitable Foundation "Ukrainian Register of Bone Marrow Donors" started working in early 2018. According to their website, there are a total of 38 million people registered in the world who may be potential bone marrow donors. There are already 2609 Ukrainians in this register.
Such a register is needed so that Ukrainians can not go abroad in search of donors, but cope with all the procedures in Ukraine. Therefore, it is very important that the number of donors in the registry grows, because the possibility of matching genotypes between two people is quite small.
Roman Kutz, head of the charity, said the minimum bone marrow donor base, which could match the search for a donor to a patient within the country, should be at least 20,000. However, thanks to the Foundation’s cooperation with international registries, Ukrainian patients will have access to information about potential bone marrow donors around the world.
“Our non-governmental register of bone marrow donors has been created, it is being filled in, we are searching for unrelated donors and ensuring the delivery of these cells in Ukraine. We delivered these cells three times from Germany, once from Poland, "Kuts said.
Who can become a donor
Becoming a bone marrow donor is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance. This can be done by anyone between the ages of 18 and 35, but there are a number of contraindications:
- body weight less than 50 kilograms;
- severe obesity (body mass index more than 40);
- severe diseases of the central nervous system or mental illness;
- systemic autoimmune diseases;
- cancer, even if they have been previously cured;
- addictive diseases (alcohol, drugs, psychotropic substances);
- severe cardiovascular disease, diseases of the pulmonary system, kidneys;
- severe tropical infections, especially malaria;
- hepatitis B, C, syphilis, HIV (AIDS);
- blood disorders or diseases that cause bleeding.
If you do not have all these contraindications, and you meet all the criteria, you can then fill out an online application form. After that, you will receive all the necessary information by mail, as well as a test kit to identify your leukocyte antigens. It can simply be made at home, it is a normal scraping of the cheek.
After that, your samples will be sent for additional analysis, and information about you will appear in the register. In that case, if someone needs your cells, you will simply be notified using the contact details you provide when registering.
Stem cell collection is fairly easy - through blood sampling. This method is used in 80% of cases. Just for five days the donor will be injected with a special drug that significantly increases the number of stem cells in the blood. On the fifth day, a blood test is performed to check the number of circulating stem cells. Next, you need to undergo an apheresis procedure ( a method that allows you to get from one donor significantly more of the required blood component than the usual dose of whole blood with its subsequent division into components - ed .), Which lasts 3-5 hours, depending on the number of stem cells to be obtained.
There is a second method, but it is used much less often, in only 20% of cases - is to obtain stem cells from the pelvic bones. This procedure is performed in a hospital under anesthesia, using a syringe and needle.
With both methods of sampling, the donor usually takes 1-5% of their own stem cells, which is sufficient for the full restoration of hematopoiesis in the patient for life. And the donor’s bone marrow is completely restored within a few weeks.
Being a donor is easy, it’s important to be a donor!
Author Anastasia Ishchenko
Read also - SMA: a sentence without hope?
Why bone marrow transplantation is needed and how it is performed in Ukraine
Currently, two types of bone marrow transplantation are performed in Ukraine: autologous, when the patient receives his own bone marrow, and collagen - from a family or third-party donor.
Only in April 2020, in Ukraine for the first time a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. The operation was performed at the National Children’s Specialized Hospital "Okhmatdyt".
"In Ukraine, a bone marrow was transplanted from an unrelated donor to the boy Nazarchyk. He is a little over a year old. And a German citizen shared his cells with him, " wrote Iryna Zaslavets, founder of the IDonor: All-Ukrainian Donation Platform Charitable Foundation, on her Facebook page.
She said the donor had been found by the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Foundation, which had gained access to the international registry.
As of mid-February 2021, Ukraine has already performed five such bone marrow transplant operations from an unrelated donor.
Recall that bone marrow transplantation can be performed for various reasons. Thus, it restores stem cells that are destroyed after chemotherapy, is considered an effective method of treating diseases of the blood system, immunodeficiency and autoimmune diseases of the nervous system.
It has been proven that bone marrow transplantation, which contains stem cells, can restore normal hematopoiesis in more than forty of his malignant diseases. And more than 75% of transplants are performed because of malignant diseases.
How the register of bone marrow donors works
Charitable Foundation "Ukrainian Register of Bone Marrow Donors" started working in early 2018. According to their website, there are a total of 38 million people registered in the world who may be potential bone marrow donors. There are already 2609 Ukrainians in this register.
Such a register is needed so that Ukrainians can not go abroad in search of donors, but cope with all the procedures in Ukraine. Therefore, it is very important that the number of donors in the registry grows, because the possibility of matching genotypes between two people is quite small. Roman Kutz, head of the charity, said the minimum bone marrow donor base, which could match the search for a donor to a patient within the country, should be at least 20,000. However, thanks to the Foundation’s cooperation with international registries, Ukrainian patients will have access to information about potential bone marrow donors around the world.
“Our non-governmental register of bone marrow donors has been created, it is being filled in, we are searching for unrelated donors and ensuring the delivery of these cells in Ukraine. We delivered these cells three times from Germany, once from Poland, "Kuts said.
Who can become a donor
Becoming a bone marrow donor is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance. This can be done by anyone between the ages of 18 and 35, but there are a number of contraindications:
- body weight less than 50 kilograms;
- severe obesity (body mass index more than 40);
- severe diseases of the central nervous system or mental illness;
- systemic autoimmune diseases;
- cancer, even if they have been previously cured;
- addictive diseases (alcohol, drugs, psychotropic substances);
- severe cardiovascular disease, diseases of the pulmonary system, kidneys;
- severe tropical infections, especially malaria;
- hepatitis B, C, syphilis, HIV (AIDS);
- blood disorders or diseases that cause bleeding.
If you do not have all these contraindications, and you meet all the criteria, you can then fill out an online application form. After that, you will receive all the necessary information by mail, as well as a test kit to identify your leukocyte antigens. It can simply be made at home, it is a normal scraping of the cheek.
After that, your samples will be sent for additional analysis, and information about you will appear in the register. In that case, if someone needs your cells, you will simply be notified using the contact details you provide when registering.
Stem cell collection is fairly easy - through blood sampling. This method is used in 80% of cases. Just for five days the donor will be injected with a special drug that significantly increases the number of stem cells in the blood. On the fifth day, a blood test is performed to check the number of circulating stem cells. Next, you need to undergo an apheresis procedure ( a method that allows you to get from one donor significantly more of the required blood component than the usual dose of whole blood with its subsequent division into components - ed .), Which lasts 3-5 hours, depending on the number of stem cells to be obtained.
There is a second method, but it is used much less often, in only 20% of cases - is to obtain stem cells from the pelvic bones. This procedure is performed in a hospital under anesthesia, using a syringe and needle.
With both methods of sampling, the donor usually takes 1-5% of their own stem cells, which is sufficient for the full restoration of hematopoiesis in the patient for life. And the donor’s bone marrow is completely restored within a few weeks.
Being a donor is easy, it’s important to be a donor!
Author Anastasia Ishchenko
Read also - SMA: a sentence without hope?