Debunking Myths about Blood Stem Cell Donation

With the Rising Blood Cancer Cases In India, Blood Stem Cell Donation Is the Need of the Hour

Mumbai, August 26, 2020: Blood cancer accounts for 8% of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in India. Blood Cancer and other blood disorders like Thalassemia & Aplastic Anemia are life- threatening, unless matching potential blood stem cell donors donate their blood stem cells to save lives.In India, we see almost onelakh new cases of blood disorders evrery year, contributing to the disease burden consistently. Despite this huge burden, only 0.03% of the Indian population isregistered as potential blood stem cell donors which is significantly lower than many other countries.

Due to many misconceptions around blood stem cell donation, the process and it’s after effects, Indians are not adequately represented on the stem cell registries making it hard to find a potential match for blood cancer patients. It is time that we all acknowledge the importance of being a blood stem cell donor and commit to being a lifesaver. DKMS BMST Foundation India, a non-profit organisation has been creating awareness to help people realise the importance of blood stem cell registration and donation and provide every blood cancer patient with a healthy unrelated blood stem cell donor.

In order to raise awareness about the cause, Dr Santanu Sen, Bone Marrow Transplant specialist, Hemato Oncologist at Kokilaben Dhirunhai Ambani hospital, Andheri Mumbai said: “A stem cell transplant is the only cure for many diseases such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell disease and Aplastic anaemia. It is also the only hope for survival for many patients with advanced cancers. The selfless generosity of stem cell donors have saved countless lives and brought back smiles to so many families. Be a stem cell donor, save a life!”

“The need of the hour is to address the gap, which can be done if we can increase our donor registration base. The significantly low numbers of registration indicate the lack of awareness among the masses and also multiple misconceptions existing amongst people about the process of blood stem cell transplant. It’s time to tackle these obstacles and encourage every individual to become a potential lifesaver”, said Patrick Paul, CEO, DKMS BMST Foundation India.

Talking about the major myths associated with blood stem cell transplant, Dr. Santanu Sen adds “Most of us assume that donating blood stem cells means losing them forever and that the process of donating is painful and invasive and that anyone who donates blood stem cells have prolonged side-effects post blood stem cell donation. The fact is that after a blood stem cell donation, the body regenerates blood stem cells and the process does not lead to a permanent loss of blood stem cells and the donor’s immune system will not be weakened. Blood stem cells are collected through peripheral blood stem cell collection (PBSC) which is completely safe and a non-surgical procedure. The process is similar to blood platelet donation that takes approximately four to six hours to complete and the donor can leave the clinic on the same day and there are no major side-effects post donation. You may have minor flu like symptoms because of the G-CSF injections given to you before the donation, to mobilize blood stem cells in your blood stream.

People often think that blood donation and ablood stem cell donation are the same, though the process is similar but unlike blood collection for transfusion, blood stem cells are collected only when there is a match between the donor and patient’s Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) combination (tissue type).So, you could be potentially the only match and life saver for a person with blood cancer in need of a transplant.

Another major misconception is that blood stem cells are same as umbilical cord cells, but the fact is blood stem cells required for stem cell transplant can be donated by anyone irrespective of their gender and it has no relation with umbilical cord cells.”

Per statistics, only 40% of blood disorder patients in need of a stem cell transplant are able to find a sibling match and about 60 % of patients need an unrelated donor. Any interested individual between the age of 18-50 and in general good health can register as a potential blood stem donor with a blood stem cell registry. “A registry is a data bank of potential blood stem cell donors that houses details on thousands of committed blood stem cell donors. India is witnessing a significantly low number of registrations which indicates the lack of awareness among the masses. It’s time to tackle these obstacles and encourage every individual to become a potential lifesaver”, added Patrick.

You can register as a potential blood stem cell donor at www.dkms-bmst.org/register. Registering is an easy process which can be done online from the comfort of your home. After filling the form you will receive a swab kit, all you have to do is to rub the inner cheeks of your mouth with the swabs and send us your samples in the pre-stamped kit. Your tissues will be analysed and typed in the laboratory. The probability of becoming a matchis one in a million! Once you are a match for a patient, you will be contacted by the DKMS-BMST coordinator.Your blood stem cells will be obtained from the bloodstream using a procedure called Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection.Blood stem cell donors donate only blood stem cells and the process is similar to a platelet donation. This is a very safe, non-surgical outpatient procedure.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)