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- Many people with African or mixed-race ancestry living with blood cancers in South Africa may not find a matching bone marrow donor.
- Patients of European descent are, however, much more likely to find a match on national or international registries.
- An increase in awareness and promoting education on stem cell donation will help people to overcome fear and misconception.
A focal point for World Cancer Day 2022, which just passed, was to “Close the Care Gap” - and while there are significant gaps in cancer care, the most obvious being the price tag, there are other gaps.
Treating blood cancer, one of the five most common cancers in the world, can be less challenging with stem cell donation, but this can only happen only if a matching donor is found.
Genetic rainbow
There have been many initiatives and drives to grow the database of the “bone marrow” registry, but there aren’t enough persons with African or mixed-race ancestry signing up.
There are three main types of blood cancer – leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma – and The Sunflower Fund, now known as DKMS Africa, go to bat for thousands of patients who are hoping for a match.
DKMS Africa’s Medical Director, Dr Theo Gerdener, told Health24 that the chances of having a fully matched sibling donor are only 25% for each patient, and the gap between patients of European ancestry versus African or mixed-race ancestry is immense.
“Patients of European ancestry have an increased likelihood of finding a match on a national or international registry to upwards of 80%; this is not the case for patients of African or mixed-race ancestry.
“In the latter patients, donors are found in less than 20% of cases and reasons for this discrepancy are the significant genetic diversity that exists in African populations compounded by the under-representation of African and mixed-race donors on registries.
“People living with blood cancers and disorders in South Africa are thus at a distinct disadvantage,” said Gerdener.
Simple and almost painless
Medical technology has come a long way regarding testing and donation. Several testing processes have been simplified and most are almost painless.
Gerdener said, “Donors and patients are now matched via more sophisticated typing of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) region in the DNA.
“The sample for this complex testing is in the form of a simple cheek swab from both the patient and the potential donor.”
Even though several processes have been simplified and techniques have been tweaked, an undertone of fear remains because of how stem cells are harvested from the body.
“Innovation in the medical and technological spheres has allowed the process to become streamlined and relatively pain-free, and now, 90% of the time, stem cells are harvested from one’s blood, which is a similar process to donating platelets at a blood bank.
“There also tends to be confusion between blood donation, organ donation, and stem cell donation – these are completely different databases,” Gerdener added.
Registration process
Registering with DKMS Africa is a simple three-step process:
- If you are between the ages of 18 and 55 years old, visit the DKMS Africa site and answer a brief questionnaire to determine if you can safely donate if needed. If you are eligible, a courier will deliver a swab kit to your home at no cost to you.
- When you receive your kit, you swab the inside of your mouth and cheeks and our couriers will collect the kit from you within five days. The swabs will be analysed to determine your HLA characteristics – this is essentially how donor and patient matches are discovered.
- Once we have analysed your samples, you will be added to the register and you will be available for patients – globally – searching for a donor.
READ | Needed: Black bone marrow donors
