Q: LET’S START WITH THE BASICS. EXPLAIN WHAT SICKLE CELL DISEASE IS AND WHAT BONE MARROW IS?
A: Sickle cell disease is a group of blood disorders of abnormal hemoglobin (oxygen transporter in red blood cells) where at least one of the 2 genes is a sickle hemoglobin. This results in a disease state where red blood cells are prematurely destroyed and medical complications of every organ system. This can be a life-shortening disease.
Bone marrow is the tissue within the bones where the blood elements/cells are made and mature before entering the blood stream.
Q: HOW DOES A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT HELP CURE SOMEONE WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE?
A: We replace their bone marrow with that of an unaffected donor so their body can then produce the cells of their donor.
Q: EXPLAIN HOW THE NATIONAL REGISTRY WORKS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT FOR MINORITIES TO REGISTER IN PARTICULAR.
A: The national registry allows people to voluntarily provide DNA so they can possibly be a match for someone who is considering a transplant when they do not have a suitable family-related donor.
In the registry, minorities are not well represented. Therefore, the potential for a minority to find a match is much lower than Caucasians. As this can be a life-saving therapy, opportunity for cure is limited for minority patients. We need minorities to participate to give more diversity to the donor pool and afford a higher chance of our patients to find a suitable match.