ANTHONY NOLAN
Who are Anthony Nolan, and what is the stem cell register?
Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer, such as leukaemia. Blood cancer is also the most common type of cancer in children. For many, a blood stem cell transplant is their only chance of life but finding a donor is far from easy for many and a transplant is a high-risk treatment for life-threatening conditions. For around 2,400 people each year who need transplant, Anthony Nolan gives real hope for the future.
In order to make these lifesaving connections, Anthony Nolan’s aim is to recruit more individuals to their stem register, to give more people their second chance of life.
Anthony Nolan recruits 16–30-year-olds to the register, as their research shows they make the best donors. They generally recover faster and have fewer medical complications, and if offered two donors identical, apart from age, the transplant centres will choose the younger donor.
Young men are the most likely to be chosen to donate (56% of those who donated in last two years are young men) but they only make up 18% of the register. So, it is a key aim to get more young men on the register.
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Supporting Anthony Nolan
Tissue type is an inherited characteristic passed on from parents to children, so people are most likely to find a match from someone from a similar ethnic background. Finding matches for patients from ethnic minorities is more complex, mainly due to the number of potential donors.
So, we need to support Anthony Nolan recruit more people from ethnic minority communities in the UK. People from White British heritage have a 72% chance of finding a match on the register compared to 37% for those with a minority ethnic background. So, we need to work together to close this gap.