A Medical Crisis
- Arthur Yu, 41, is battling blood cancer and fighting to get his stem cell transplant donor match into the country after they were denied a visa by the U.S. State Department.
- A stem cell transplant is a way of delivering a massive dose of chemotherapy to fight blood cancer.
- The husband and father had used Be the Match to find a potential donor — and matched up with a man in the Philippines who wound up being a distant cousin of his.
- Now awaiting a response from the U.S. Senate Office, Yu hopes to raise awareness on this injustice issue for others who may be affected by government red tape during a health crisis.
A stem cell transplant, or bone marrow transplant, is a way of delivering a massive dose of chemotherapy to fight blood cancer. This patient’s immune system is then effectively rescued by the new cells, which can come from your own body or in cases like Yu’s, a donor is needed. This is an extremely challenging process and puts a lot of stress on the body.
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Yu is now taking the matter up with Sen. Alex Padilla in the U.S. Senate office, who has reportedly acknowledged his request but has not yet given a response on whether or not he can assist. Meanwhile, Yu’s cousin has a second visa interview in the Philippines next week.
Yu’s Blood Cancer Diagnosis
Yu, who is an avid marathon runner, first noticed something was wrong last year when his heart rate spiked just from walking from his car to the front porch.
“My heart rate was like 130, 140,” he recalled, noting that his wife Alice asked why he was so out of breath.
Soon after getting checked out, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is a cancer of the white blood cells, and he has since gone through four chemotherapy treatments as he fights for his potentially life-saving match to get into the country.
Stem cell transplants help replace damaged cells with healthy ones.
“The goal of the [stem cell] transplant is to kill off as many cancerous cells as possible through a round of high dosage chemotherapy,” said Dr. Paul Richardson in a previous interview. “The stem-cell transplant itself is actually used as a rescue therapy to replenish healthy cells following the harsh chemotherapy.”
Learning About Acute Myeloid Leukemia
The symptoms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can be really subtle, says Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, director of the leukemia program at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center.
Since it is a cancer of the white blood cells, Dr. Sekeres explains that it can lead to a handful of non-specific symptoms that are similar to those of the flu.
“Something like acute myeloid leukemia causes very high white blood cell count … a person has symptoms of the flu because he or she has a high white blood cell count reacting to a virus,” Dr. Sekeres tells SurvivorNet. “The high white blood cell count occurs because there’s a cancer in the bone marrow that causes the white blood cells to grow and grow and grow, and not know how to stop growing.”
Symptoms of acute myeloid leukemia
Dr. Sekeres notes that some of the symptoms include fatigue, fever and a loss of appetite. A person experiencing these symptoms in the long-term would prompt a doctor to do some blood work, Dr. Sekeres says. A person who has AML’s blood work can return with a white blood cell count that’s 20X the normal number, and a red blood cell (or hemoglobin) count that is much lower than normal. This low hemoglobin can lead to fatigue.
A low platelet count may also lead to symptoms such as irregular bleeding — leading people to experience subtle side effects like nose bleeds, bruising or bleeding in the gums when brushing their teeth.
What Is a Stem Cell Transplant?
As defined by the American Cancer Society, stem cells make red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, which are tiny blood cells that help your body stop bleeding by forming clots.
ACS explains that we need all of these types of blood cells to keep us alive. In order for these blood cells to be able to do their jobs, there need to be enough of them in your blood.
Stem cells mostly live in the bone marrow — which is a spongy soft tissue found in the bones — and depending on the type of transplant needed, per ACS, there are three sources of stem cells utilized for stem cell transplants:
- Bone marrow (from you or someone else)
- The bloodstream (from you or someone else)
- Umbilical cord blood from newborns
For patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other blood cancers, a stem cell transplant offers the possibility of lasting remission.
To prepare for a stem cell transplant, first doctors have to be comfortable that you’re as fit and healthy as you can be.
When the transplant uses healthy blood-forming cells (stem cells) from a donor, the procedure is called an allogeneic stem cell transplant.
“We don’t believe that chemotherapy, for the majority of leukemias, is sufficient in order to cure patients of their disease, forever,” says Dr. Caitlin Costello, hematologist-oncologist at UC San Diego Health. “And so a transplant is an opportunity to do that – cure patients with leukemia.”
After the patient’s own stem cells have been destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy or radiation, they are replaced with healthy stem cells from a donor. (In a variation on this procedure, an autologous stem cell transplant, the patient’s own stem cells are used.)
RELATED: What To Expect During Recovery After a Stem-Cell Transplant For AML
Patients will undergo testing to determine the strength of their heart, lungs, liver, and, kidneys, says Dr. Costello. “And while you are going through this, your donor, who has not been identified, is being searched for.”
Dr. Costello adds that a sibling donor is ideal. Siblings have a 1 in 4 chance of matching. A close relative may also be a potential match. When the donor is an identical twin, the procedure is known as a syngeneic stem-cell transplant, and offers perfect genetic match.
RELATED: Finding The Ideal Donor For A Stem Cell Transplant
Donor cells can also come from an unrelated donor who is genetically similar to the patient.
“If a sibling is not a match or is unavailable, we’ll be looking for an unrelated donor in a world-wide registry. So while you’re undergoing your testing, your transplant doctor is identifying a donor who would be a good option for you.”
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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