Mixed-race patients struggle to find marrow donors
RichAsianKid
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPGoDRbVXmWjqNHsSOCV-qzk-aGwD98EPEBG0
Mixed-race patients struggle to find marrow donors
By JULIANA BARBASSA � 3 days ago
HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) � If Nick Glasgow were white, he would have a
nearly 90 percent chance of finding a matching bone marrow donor who
could cure his leukemia.
But because the 28-year-old bodybuilder is one-quarter Japanese, his
doctor warned him the outlook was grim. Glasgow's background would make
it almost impossible to find a match, which usually comes from a
patient's own ethnic group.
The doctor "didn't say it was slim-to-none. He didn't say it would be
hard. He said 'zero chance,'" Glasgow's mother, Carole Wiegand, recalled
with tears in her eyes. "When Nick heard that, it sent him plummeting."
At a time when the number of multiracial Americans is rising, only a
tiny fraction of donors on the national bone-marrow registry are of
mixed race. The National Marrow Donor Program is trying to change that
by seeking more diverse donors for patients suffering from leukemia,
lymphoma and other blood diseases.
"The truth is, when people of different backgrounds marry and produce
offspring, it creates more types that are harder to match," said
Michelle Setterholm, the program's director of scientific services. "The
probability just gets lower when you have people of mixed ancestral DNA."
The number of people who identify themselves as multiracial in the
United States has grown from 3.9 million in 2000, the first year the
census included the category, to 5.2 million in 2008. Mixed-race people
account for 1.6 percent of the U.S. population.
The donor program has been pushing for years to recruit more racial
minorities and mixed-race donors. So far, multiracial volunteers make up
just 3 percent of the 7 million people on the registry.
That is higher than the percentage of mixed-race people in the U.S. But
there are so many possible racial and ethnic combinations that finding a
match can still be extremely difficult.
The reason that mixed-heritage patients are so hard to match can be
found in the immune system.
Populations in different parts of the world developed certain proteins,
or markers, that are part of the body's natural defenses. These markers
help the immune system determine which cells are foreign and should be
rejected.
A match between two people who share many markers will reduce the risk
of the donor and recipient cells attacking each other. Because certain
markers tend to cluster in particular ethnic groups, matches are most
often found among people of shared backgrounds. Multiracial patients
often have uncommon profiles and a much harder time finding a donor.
About 6,000 patients in the U.S. are awaiting a bone marrow match.
Finding compatible organs for transplant is simpler. Organ matches rely
essentially on blood type, which is not related to race.
Glasgow's grandfather, an Army soldier from South Carolina, fell in love
while stationed in Japan after World War II and married across racial
lines at a time when it was illegal to do so in many states.
From his Japanese grandmother, Glasgow got the almond shape of his eyes
and cell markers that set him apart from most other whites. From his
white grandparents, he got markers that set him apart from other Japanese.
Geary Moya's background � part Navajo, part Mexican � has kept his life
on hold since 2005, when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Chemotherapy has put his cancer in remission, but a bone marrow
transplant is his only hope for a cure.
"I can't work. I can't plan. I just don't know what tomorrow will hold
for me," said Moya, a 51-year-old former manager of an appliance company.
He often visits bone marrow drives, where he tries to encourage
prospective donors to sign up.
"If it's not for me, it'll help someone," he said last week as he
stopped by a booth registering potential bone marrow donors at
California State University in Hayward. "There's a whole list of people
out there waiting for someone to come along."
Moya watched and answered questions as a trickle of students filled out
forms with their health history and ethnic makeup before swabbing the
inside of their cheeks to collect the genetic material that will be used
to match them to waiting patients.
If a match is found, they will undergo a painful procedure in which
doctors withdraw liquid marrow from the back of their pelvic bones.
Among those filling out donor forms was Abe Rindal, a retired engineer
who heard through friends about Glasgow.
Rindal was born to a Norwegian-American father and Japanese mother who
met in Japan after World War II. They started a family before
interracial marriage bans were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1967.
Rindal remembers meeting only two other people with similar ethnicity.
"It was socially unacceptable back then," he said.
The chance to help someone of similar ethnicity appealed to Rindal. He
not only filled out his form and swabbed his cheeks, he also sent test
kits to his four siblings and their children in the hope they might be a
match for Glasgow.
At the hospital, Wiegand prays for her son. Her niece started a Facebook
group that has collected upward of 1,000 members interested in helping.
The Asian American Donor Program has been contacting Japanese-American
organizations, and large corporations such as Cisco have reached out to
their employees via e-mail.
If chemotherapy sends Glasgow's cancer into remission, he might have
months to find a match. If not, he might have far less time.
"I just keep thinking, `Please, everyone, get into that database,'" his
mother said. "I just know there's a match out there somewhere for him."
On the Net:
* National Marrow Donor Program: http://www.marrow.org
* Asian American Donor Program: http://www.aadp.org
abian...@yahoo.com
are you admitting publically that you are neither a man nor a woman?
Are you a transvestite or just an ordinary lady boy?
On May 31, 2:55 am, RichAsianKid <RichAsian...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Yet one more disadvantage of being a mongrel.
>
> * * * *http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPGoDRbVXmWjqNHsSOC...
> Mixed-race patients struggle to find marrow donors
>
> By JULIANA BARBASSA – 3 days ago
>
> HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) — If Nick Glasgow were white, he would have a
> Geary Moya's background — part Navajo, part Mexican — has kept his life
abia...@my-deja.com
And are you gay?
On May 31, 7:23 am, "abianc...@my-deja.com" <abian_ch...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> > * Asian American Donor Program:http://www.aadp.org- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Tienxia
You must have forgotten to take those pills again this morning,
Meichi! You are delirious! You are really obsessed about gay and
psycho. So you must be a gay psycho.
On May 31, 7:22 am, "abianc...@my-deja.com" <abianc...@my-deja.com>
wrote:
> > > * Asian American Donor Program:http://www.aadp.org-Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
RichAsianKid
> Hey RAK, why don't you answer my question? Is it too deep for you or
> are you admitting publically that you are neither a man nor a woman?
> Are you a transvestite or just an ordinary lady boy?
>
Again, only if RAK is interracial.
>
> On May 31, 2:55 am, RichAsianKid <RichAsian...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Yet one more disadvantage of being a mongrel.
>>
>> * * * *http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPGoDRbVXmWjqNHsSOC...
>> Mixed-race patients struggle to find marrow donors
>>
>> By JULIANA BARBASSA � 3 days ago
>>
>> HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) � If Nick Glasgow were white, he would have a
>> Geary Moya's background � part Navajo, part Mexican � has kept his life