Bone Marrow Registry event to be held at Fair Lawn Jewish Center, March 1.
(Courtesy of Be The Match) Be The Match®, a global leader in bone marrow transplantation, will be swabbing cheeks in order to add to its international registry of potential bone marrow and stem cell donors. With a basic health screening and cheek swab you can give blood cancer patients a second chance at life. The event will take place on Sunday, March 1, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel, 10-10 Norma Avenue, Fair Lawn, 201-796-5040. Registration is free and painless.
Thousands of people diagnosed every year with life-threatening diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and many other diseases may be cured through bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Since 70% of patients do not have a fully matched donor in their family, they turn to Be The Match to find an unrelated donor. Potential donors should be between the ages of 18 and 44 of any ethnicity or background.
“I learned that finding a matching donor can be complicated,” explained Ronald Roth, rabbi emeritus at Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel. Roth was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare form of blood cancer, in 2015. His brother was tested, but did not qualify as a match. His doctor immediately added him to the Be The Match patient registry; however, no perfect match was found. As Roth’s condition worsened, his doctor decided to try a relatively new procedure that used a “haploid” or related half-match, and Roth’s 35-year-old son donated his bone marrow for a transplant in August 2018. Haploid transplants may result in greater complications and have a lower success rate, but Roth is now doing well.
“I am committed to helping Be The Match increase and broaden its donor registry,” he said. “My chances for success would have been greater with a perfect match, and I know how lucky I am to have the outcome I did. I want everyone facing a terrible blood cancer diagnosis to have the best chance of beating the disease. Having as many donors as possible on the Be The Match registry can do that.”
Over the past 30 years Be The Match, operated by the non-profit National Marrow Donor Program®, has managed the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world, working every day to save lives through transplant. In addition, the organization conducts research to improve transplant outcomes and provides support and resources for patients. For more information about bone marrow transplant, go to www.bethematch.org
