On Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010 there was more than just dancing happening in the University of Massachusetts Student Union Ballroom. Along with those participating in a 12-hour dance marathon to raise money and awareness for the Baystate Children’s Hospital in Springfield, there was a bone marrow registration drive taking place for those interested in helping to save lives.
The process was simple. Those interested headed to the ballroom between 12:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., where they were registered and swabbed. Stations were set up inside the ballroom which provided information on eligibility and types of donation.
Bone marrow is a donation process which involves taking one’s stem cells, or white blood cells, which are used to treat patients suffering from diseases such as leukemia.
Shira Simcha Nouriel, a UMass senior BDIC major, focusing on neurological function and disorders, partnered with DKMS Americas, the largest bone marrow donor center in the world to bring the registration drive to the University.
“I wanted a medical extracurricular that I wouldn’t directly benefit from,” said Nouriel.
Those who chose to register for donation needed to be 18 years or older and committed to the cause. Donors will be listed on the “Be The Match Registry” until the age of 61, unless they ask to be removed. The likelihood of being chosen is rare, though. The odds of a donor matching a patient on a transplant list are one out of 22,000.
To find a match, The National Marrow Donor Program, as stated on its website, www.marrow.org, analyzes tissue taken from a mouth swab for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA). HLA are proteins found on most cells in the body, and function as markers which determine which cells do and do not belong in one’s body.
Out of the six categories examined to determine good matches, four are critically important for surviving a transplant. Half of peoples’ HLA markers are inherited from parents, meaning siblings with the same parents have a 25 percent chance of being a match.
“It doesn’t require much to save a life,” said Nouriel. “This is just genetic, whether or not you have the right background to save someone’s life.”
If the HLA factors coincide, a transplant can occur. In order to receive the bone marrow needed, the donor will supply their marrow through a pelvic draw or Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection (PBSC).
Although the names may sound gruesome to some, Nouriel explains the processes are not what they appear to be on television. A pelvic draw, where marrow is collected from the back of the pelvic bone, only occurs in 20 percent of cases, as it is used only when children need marrow. Donors receive general anesthesia during the process and experience no pain. Side effects include a stiff lower back and possible nausea, sore throat or light-headedness from the anesthesia.
PBSC is the primary method of collection. It is used 80 percent of the time, and collects stem cells via the bloodstream. Donors receive daily injections of a synthetic protein called filgrastim four days prior to the donation to increase the production of these cells.
Through a procedure called dialysis, the donor’s blood is removed from one arm and passed through a machine which separates the stem cells and then returns the blood to the other arm. According to dkmsamericas.org, the world’s largest marrow donor center, the process takes between six and eight hours and is done over a one-to-two day period.
Last year, UMass student Ashley Cox, a sophomore majoring in legal studies and anthropology, organized a bone marrow drive and registered 1,816 people in two days. She recently received the news that one of the donors registered during the drive is a match.
“It’s amazing,” said Cox. “Because of our team last year and all the hard work we put into getting donors, we gave someone a chance at life that only 1 in 22,000 people get. That’s huge.”
The drive held this past Saturday spearheaded a larger registration happening in the spring. Nouriel hopes to register as many people as possible, especially minorities, as only 10 percent of the registry is Latino and just seven percent is African American.
“The number one reason people don’t get on the registry is because they don’t know about it,” said Cox. “The number two reason they don’t is because of fear. We need to teach people that it’s not a horrifically painful experience and it’s more rewarding than you can possibly imagine.”
To find out more on how and where to donate, visit www.getswabbed.org.
Jessica Sacco can be reached at [email protected].
