Shahrin Ahmed: The donor pool for high-risk blood cancer patients could be increased through a new stem cell transplant

Shahrin Ahmed, Medical Specialist at Canadian Cancer Society, made the following post on X:

“The donor pool for high-risk blood cancer patients could be increased through a new stem cell transplant –

Patients with blood cancers who need bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants face a major obstacle of finding a matched donor for a long time.

The National Marrow Donor Program is often consulted by patients who lack an eligible family member. Although there are more than 40 million potential donors in the registry, not everyone finds a match, especially individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Successful outcomes are being achieved by adopting a new approach, which involves cyclophosphamide being administered several days after transplantation. The ASCO meeting on May 31st, 2024 will feature new data that will show high rates of success in patients receiving blood stem cells from unrelated, partially matched donors.

Human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) are a set of protein markers found on blood cells that determine donor compatibility. 80% patients who received bone marrow transplants from partially matched, unrelated donors experienced high survival rates due to the drug.”

Source: Shahrin Ahmed/X
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