The Biomedicine Agency hopes to recruit 18,000 new donors this year and above all to diversify the profiles, because the France Greffe registry lacks men and certain ethnic origins.
“As a nurse, I signed up in 1995 because I knew how difficult it was to find a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant. Especially since my brother died of leukemia. I was called once to make a donation. It’s a bit exceptional, but I knew afterwards that my donation had served a man in his forties in Canada. »Testifies Joël, who confirms that he would donate his bone marrow again without problem. Like him, already 200,000 people are currently registered on the national register. “Bone marrow donation is important, because it allows 2000 patients who need it each year in France, to have additional hope of being cured of a fatal hematological disease, such as leukemia or lymphoma,” explains Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave, Director General of the Biomedicine Agency.
Listen to Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave, Director General of the Biomedicine Agency : “ The bone marrow is located at the heart of the bones. It is a structure of cells that make blood cells. When there is a dysfunction, they should be replaced with healthy bone marrow from a donor. “
Is there a shortage of donors in France? A patient requiring a bone marrow transplant has a 1 in 4 chance of being compatible with a sibling. When no compatibility is found in the siblings, or the patient has no brother or sister, the doctors then appeal to the register of potential French donors. A register which is also connected with those from around the world, which makes it possible to have several dozen registered volunteers at the international level. Unfortunately, this is not always enough. Each year, patients die for lack of compatible donors. “In France, we have another problem, our population is extremely varied because of the crossbreeding that has taken place over the centuries,” adds Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave. However, for the bone marrow transplant, we need someone who gives, who is almost identical to you, almost as close as a brother or a sister, and that is very rare ”.
Listen to Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave : “ There is a lack of male and male donors, especially in the West Indian communities, sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean rim of the Middle East. “
Can anyone be a donor? There are conditions to be met. The first is to be in perfect health. It is a donation which is intended for very seriously ill people, no question of taking the slightest risk for the recipient. To be sure, the prior medical interview is quite rigorous. Registration is not possible for people with a heart or respiratory condition, or for people taking certain medications for a long time. In addition, you must be over 18 and under 51 when registering, even if you can give up to 60 years.
How does the sample take place? There are 2 techniques for harvesting bone marrow cells: removal from the posterior pelvic bones and collection from the blood by apheresis. The first method of collection requires 48 hours of hospitalization because it is done under general anesthesia. Contrary to popular belief, there is no risk of paralysis since it is not located in the spine or the spinal cord. Some people have reservations about the minimal risk that anesthesia can represent. However, all precautions are taken before the operation with a consultation with the anesthesiologist. “After the puncture, I woke up feeling like I had received a blow to the lower back or buttock. The pain subsided very quickly and after a short week of work stoppage, I resumed my normal life, with an immense feeling of satisfaction, ”says Yves.
The other technique of sampling by cytapheresis consists of injecting the donor over a few days with a drug allowing the stem cells from the bone marrow to escape into the blood. Then, the collection is done more simply by taking blood in a session which lasts about 4 hours. Whatever the case, it is always the transplant doctor who chooses the most appropriate graft collection technique for his patient. The two techniques are however governed by the same main principles resulting from the law of bioethics: consent, anonymity and gratuity.
Listen to Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave: “ The anesthesia is scary for sure, but in France since this donation exists, there has not been accident. In any case, cytapheresis is not trivial either, even if it is true that today we have more and more donations that are made in this way. “
The 8th Mobilization Week for bone marrow donation is being held from March 25 to 30, 2013. For information or to pre-register to become a volunteer, a website, www.bone marrow.Fr. The main objective is to achieve in 2015 that the French Marrow Transplant Registry has more than 240,000 potential donors in order to hope to cure patients like Antoine: “I received three bone marrow transplants, the last grace. to an anonymous donor. Even though I don’t know him, I think about him all the time. It’s not that I need to know him physically, I just want to express my gratitude to him, tell him that I continue to live thanks to him. This act of generosity and courage allowed me to continue living. “
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