Every year thousands of children and adults with fatal bone marrow diseases, like leukaemia and aplastic anaemia, reach a stage when their only hope of survival is a blood stem cell transplant from a donor who shares the same ‘tissue type’.
Although family members, mainly siblings, may offer the best match, unfortunately 70% of patients do not have a suitable sibling match and are therefore reliant on an unrelated donor to offer them the chance of life.
Genetic makeup is incredibly varied and we match on inherited characteristics - ‘tissue types’, which is different to blood grouping. The likelihood of finding a matching donor is considerably greater if the donor is from a similar ethnic background as the patient. Due to shortages of donors from various ethnic backgrounds it can be much more problematic locating matches for some patients.
The Anthony Nolan Trust receives over 16,000 patient search requests each year from transplant centres worldwide. By joining the Anthony Nolan bone marrow Register, you will extend our ability to help save lives.
Despite our access to over 12 million unrelated donors world-wide, some searches are still unsuccessful.
However, as the size of the register grows so does the chance of finding an exact tissue type match for more patients, therefore, it is vital that we do all we can to increase the size of the register to help ALL patients in need. All that may ever be needed from you is a small sample of blood; but you never know. You may turn out to be a matching donor – with the same tissue type as the patient’s.
It will cost you nothing to join the Anthony Nolan Register, but not acting quickly enough could cost someone their life.
Over the years this charity has been associated with many success stories. But we need a lot more. You can help.
We particularly need more men aged 18 to 40 and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds to join the bone marrow register.
