Accounting for around 8% of a body’s nominal weight, blood plays an important role in how the body functions, and survives. Made up of an almost equal mixture of plasma and blood cells, when cancer occurs in the blood, it is most often a result of the abnormal and excessive reproduction of cells1.
With around 1,24 million cases and approximately 720,000 fatalities annually, blood cancer is one of the top five most common cancers in the world and accounts for more than 7% of cancer-related deaths globally each year2. As is the case with other types of cancer, there is no cure, however, treatments to eradicate cancer cells can relieve symptoms and improve survival chances3. The five-year survival rate for blood cancer sits at 70%, meaning that a person diagnosed with the disease is 70% as likely to be alive as someone their age who does not have cancer4.
While not as common as other forms of cancer, the incidence of blood cancer continues to grow5, so much so that in South Africa, the plight is worrying. Several studies emphasise the severity of the disease in the country and someone is diagnosed with blood cancer and blood disorders every five minutes.
It is for this reason that DKMS, an international organisation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders, is aiming to meet and potentially exceed its target of reaching 35,000 blood stem cell donors by the end of 2022.
Dr Theo Gerdener, Clinical Haematologist at Albert Alberts Stemcell Transplant Centre and Medical Director at DKMS Africa, the South African affiliate of the global DKMS organisation, explains that there are three main types of blood cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
“Leukemia affects white blood cells and bone marrow, and alarmingly, childhood leukaemia accounts for around 25% of all cancer in children1,” he said. “Adding to this, lymphoma, as the most common blood cancer, directly affects the lymphatic system – the body’s shield against infectious diseases; while myeloma is a tumour of the blood plasma cells that produce antibodies.”
While each form of blood cancer and its aggressiveness will direct an individual’s symptoms, common symptoms include3:
● constant fatigue or weakness
● nausea
● loss of appetite
● swollen lymph nodes
● headaches
● shortness of breath
● fever and chills
● bone and joint pain
The treatment of cancer varies and depends on the type of cancer, the person’s age, the severity and aggressiveness of the cancer, amongst other factors. Some common treatments are radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells and relieve pain, chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells, and ultimately blood stem cell transplantation.
“While blood stem cell transplantation procedures have seen a high success rate, as many as four out of 10 blood cancer patients looking for an unrelated matching donor worldwide are not able to find a match,” adds Gerdener. “To make matters worse, several global studies state that racial minorities are much less likely to find a suitable blood stem cell donor than their counterparts of European descent. Patients of African descent have less than 20% likelihood of finding a match, compared to that of 75% for Caucasian patients, and it is for this reason that people of African descent need to become stem cell donors.”
DKMS has more than 11 million registered donors worldwide and urges anyone who is healthy and between the ages of 18 and 55 to register to become a blood stem cell donor. Should you be a successful match, the process of donating blood stem cells is as painless as donating blood.
Those interested in becoming blood stem cell donors can do so in the following way:
1. Visit www.dkms-africa.org. After successfully completing the registration process a swab kit will be couriered to you.
2. Once you’ve received your swab kit, swab the inside of your mouth and cheeks. Our couriers will collect the kit from you within five days (there are instructions on the pack) from your address. The swabs will then be analysed to determine your HLA (tissue) characteristics.
3. Once we have analysed your samples, we will add you to the register and you will be able to donate.
“Becoming a donor is a simple process, yet it can drastically change the course of someone’s life. DKMS Africa urges anyone who would like to become part of their life-saving mission to register as soon as possible,” concludes Gerdener.
Image:Teach Hub
