Finding a Donor Match
- 14-year-old Jehvan Crompton is battling chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a type of cancer that starts in the bone marrow and gets into the blood, and is in desperate need of a donor for a bone barrow transplant. His family has been rallying support from the Black community in order to find Jehvan a match, since patients are more likely to match with someone of their own ethnic background.
- “Right now, the make-up of the registry, it’s just overwhelmingly white.” And black people only have a 23% chance to find a match, opposed to white people, who have a 77% chance, according to Be The Match registry rep Christine Mantilla.
- A leading expert talks to SurvivorNet about race and blood cancer, and why the Black community has a higher risk for some blood cancers, like multiple myelomaa cancer that forms in the plasma cells, a type of white blood cellbut not others. "We're not exactly sure," Dr. Adrienne Phillips says. "It's probably multifactorial a combination of genetic risks and environmental exposures."
The shocked mother from Bakersfield, Calif. said that the tragic news “hit like a ton of bricks” during the phone call with her 14-year-old son Jehvan’s doctor. “Really, a kid? My kid — has cancer?”
Read MoreThe family is urging people to sign up to be a donor.
A 14-year-old Bakersfield boy suffering from Leukemia is searching for a bone marrow donor who can help save his life.
Posted by FOX26 on Monday, February 15, 2021
“It really comes down to the numbers,” Christine Mantilla from Be the Match Registry told the news station. “Right now, the make-up of the registry, it’s just overwhelmingly white.” Black people only have a 23% chance to find a match, opposed to white people, who have a 77% chance. Since Jehvan is Black, there is a higher likelihood that he will match up with a Black donor, since bone marrow usually matches up among people with similar ethnicities.
Dr. Adrienne Phillips, associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, explained the discrepancy to SurvivorNet. “Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world's registered stem cell donors are from registries based in Western Europe and the United States, with most countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europeand their ethnic/racial populationsbeing dramatically underrepresented,” she explained. “This disproportionate representation of specific ethnic groups, both within individual registries and worldwide, contributes to observed differences in match rates between ethnic groups.”
Jehvan’s story has been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook. The family held a blood donor drive last month and were blown away by the support. They have since encouraged more than 11,000 people to sign up. Kimberly and the boy’s father, Patrick, are only half matches.
“Jehvan and our family are beyond grateful for the outpouring of support of everyone known and unknown,” Kimberly tells SurvivorNet. “This has definitely been a journey and at times very overwhelming. Transplant is proposed within the next 90 days. Jehvan is in good spirits as the time ticks away reality sets in then anxiety. Nevertheless God is good! In desperation we will need to move forward with 1/2 match either parent.”
Understanding Blood Cancers
“Blood cancers in general affect different parts of the white blood cell count, which we need in a very basic way to help fight this infection,” Dr. Nicole Lamanna from Columbia University Medical Center tells SurvivorNet. “Your blood elements do lots of things. One is to keep energy. One is to fight infection. Two are to help with clotting or to prevent patients from bleeding.” Leukemias in general impair your normal blood elements’ ability to do all the things they’re supposed to do. “So if you have leukemia, it’s in your bone marrow. And the blood flows everywhere. You need to either be treated for the leukemia or you don’t need to be treated for that leukemia. And that depends on the specific type of leukemia you have.” In Jehvan’s case, he depends on a bone marrow transplant. According to the American Cancer Society, CML “is a fairly slow growing leukemia, but it can change into a fast-growing acute leukemia that’s hard to treat.”
What are Blood Cancers?
Race and Blood Cancer
There are a variety of different types of blood cancers. “On the most basic level, it can be divided into leukemias and lymphomas. Also, multiple myeloma is a common blood cancer,” Dr. Phillips tells SurvivorNet. Lymphoma is cancer of the body’s lymphatic system, which fights off germs and infections; multiple myeloma is a cancer that forms in plasma cells, which is a type of white blood cell.
Overall, blood cancers are less common among African Americans, but there are certain types that tend to be more common for the Black community. Multiple myeloma is twice as prevalent in Black patients, and T-Cell lymphomas are also more common in African Americans. Dr. Phillips talks about why African Americans have a higher risk for some blood cancers, but not others. "We're not exactly sure," Dr. Phillips says. "It's probably multifactorial a combination of genetic risks and environmental exposures."
How Race Affects Blood Cancer Risk
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