Half-Match Bone Marrow Transplant
By: Gwyn Bevel
Updated: December 12, 2011
LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA...JUST A FEW OF THE LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES MARROW TRANSPLANTS CAN CURE.
UNFORTUNATELY ONLY ONE IN THREE PATIENTS IS ABLE TO FIND A DONOR IN THEIR FAMILY.
THE REST MUST RELY ON AN UNRELATED DONOR ...AND ONLY HALF OF THOSE WILL FIND A PERFECT MATCH.
NOW, A NEW ALTERNATIVE COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
FOR IZZY AND CYD ART REFLECTS LIFE....AND CYD'S PAINTINGS CONNECT THE COUPLE.
("This is the silhouette of the two turtles on their journey together.")
THEIR JOURNEY TOOK A SCARY TURN...WHEN IZZY WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A-M-L...A TYPE OF LEUKEMIA. DOCTORS GAVE HIM SIX WEEKS TO LIVE.
"I've always been a fighting spirit and I said this will be a new challenge for me." HIS ONLY HOPE FOR A CURE WAS A MARROW TRANSPLANT. BUT... LIKE 70-PERCENT OF OTHERS NEEDING A ONE, IZZY COULDN'T FIND A MATCHING DONOR IN HIS FAMILY.
HE TURNED TO THE NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY.
BUT OUT OF 11-AND-A-HALF MILLION PEOPLE...THERE WASN'T A SINGLE MATCH. IT'S SOMETHING DOCTOR EPHRAIM FUCHS OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY WANTS TO CHANGE.
"In the past you had to have a perfect match, otherwise the transplant was too toxic."
BUT RESULTS FROM A RECENT NATIONAL TRIAL SHOW....BY GIVING A PATIENT CHEMOTHERAPY THREE DAYS AFTER THE TRANSPLANT...PATIENTS CAN USE A DONOR WHO IS HALF MATCHED...MEANING THE MARROW IS HALF-IDENTICAL TO THE PATIENT'S TISSUE TYPE.
"All parents, biological parents are half-matched, all children of the patient are half-matched."
TREATING BLOOD CANCER IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
"Potentially we could be treating every patient who has AIDS or sickle cell disease or even autoimmune disease."
AS FOR IZZY....HIS SON ALEX WAS A HALF-MATCH...AND THEIR MARROW TRANSPLANT WAS A SUCCESS.
"The proudest thing he ever done is to give me life."
NOW...IZZY'S CANCER FREE...AND LIFE ISN'T HALF BAD.
BESIDES SAVING HIS LIFE, IZZY SAID HE GOT ANOTHER BENEFIT FROM RECEIVING HIS SON'S MARROW.
BEFORE THE TREATMENT, IZZY HAD SALT AND PEPPER HAIR. WHEN HIS HAIR GREW BACK AFTER CHEMO, IT WAS JET BLACK! HALF-MATCH MARROW TRANSPLANTS ARE NOW BEING DONE AT LARGE MEDICAL CENTERS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
PLANS ARE UNDERWAY FOR A FOUR-YEAR RANDOMIZED TRIAL FOR THE TRANSPLANTS IN EARLY 2012.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A BONE MARROW DONOR GO TO WWW.BETHEMATCHDOT.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION.
