Thursday, June 03, 2010

Update on Devan's Bone Marrow Transplant Search

Update to this post below, from Time Magazine:

Devan's doctor informed the family a cord blood match had turned up. It's not a perfect solution, but Devan's doctor says it's good enough. Blood from the umbilical cord is rich in blood-forming cells, and cord blood doesn't have to match quite as closely as marrow from an adult. In the U.S. registry, compared to the over eight million potential marrow donors, there are only about 160,000 cord blood units. Tatlow urged pregnant women to donate their cord blood: "For pregnant women, your baby's umbilical cord, which is otherwise thrown away, can save a life. It just seems like a very simple thing to do for the greater good of mankind."

Devan's ordeal isn't over. He still needs to go through weeks of chemotherapy and then a dangerous transplant and recovery period. "It's pretty tough as a parent to see our own child facing this road ahead," Tatlow says. "But this is a lifeline for us."

3 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Oh, I do hope that it all works out well for Devan! I do so feel for him and his parents. Thanks for the update!

Sylvia

Sujatha said...

While cord blood donation seems like a good idea, newer research shows there's a downside to the newborn of clamping too early, as is done when clamping the cord earlier to maximize the stem cells to be obtained.
See this article for a more detailed discussion.
Bone marrow donations, on the other hand, don't pose such ethical dilemmas.

Sujatha (F-n-S)

mallikamt said...

Thanks for the update!