Cryo-Preserved Bone Marrow Bank?

[Anthony]

Hey friends...

I'm exploring what it would take for us to start a cryo-bank for bone marrow as an alternative to the current practice of live donor based treatments.

I'd like to open up a discussion here.

Here is the basic idea...

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Thousands of cancer patients need bone marrow transplants every year to survive.

In 1988, the first cord blood banks started cryopreserving the same kinds of stem cells that are in bone marrow.

In 2001, the FDA expanded their already broad mandate for bone marrow transplants – and separately allowed for the broad use of cryopreservation in medicine without seeking re-approval for already allowed procedures.

Then in 2011, a federal court reclassified bone marrow as a blood product instead of an organ — making it immediately legal to buy and sell it.

And yet, currently no one collects bone marrow from organ donors.

This is happening even though there’s a huge waiting list for bone marrow transplants and they’re one of the most profoundly powerful medical procedures that mankind can do. It literally lets you replace someone’s whole blood system… and immune system along with it. Since lots of diseases are related to the immune system attacking things it shouldn’t (or not attacking things that it should), bone marrow transplants would be an incredible new platform for medicine if not for the vanishingly small supply of bone marrow.

source: http://rockstarresearch.com/we-could...s-but-we-dont/
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Here are some facts about the advantages...

http://i.imgur.com/4cp3YCT.jpg?1

Curious what your reaction / ideas / thoughts are about this.

Would you consider this as an option if it was available and was proven to be as if not more effective?

Thanks so much for your insights here.

Anthony

[GoodDay5150]

In my medical opinion?! Just a joke, I'm not a dr, just a trans recep. for PNH in 2011. I would guess that it is more cost effective to maintain a virtual database of potential donors rather than an actual database of potential donors. Most ppl on this site have a pretty good idea of how much medical care for our types of diseases costs, and the related costs of gathering, storing and maintaining the actual product would be very expensive.

[bailie]

I asked the people at Be the Match if it would be possible to freeze my donor's stem cells ahead of the procedure so to make sure they were available at my transplant date. I had only one donor available. They told me that the cost out of pocket for me could be about $20-30,000 and no insurance would cover it.

[curlygirl]

As I understand it the reasons for not paying for donations is:

1) the US used to pay for blood donations, but the people that needed money the most were often homeless people and junkies, who then introduced a bunch of Hepatitis C positive blood into the blood supply. No point in trading one deadly disease for another.

2) allowing people to pay on the private market means only rich people will get the donations.

I'm fine the way it is. Although it would be nice if the US was like Germany or China and ALL people needed to get swabbed and join the registry at 18 (which is why so many US recipients have donors from Germany & China). Although I'm sure that will never happen because people in the US would say that violates their human rights.

[curlygirl]

Here is a philosophical article (re: blood donation, not bone marrow donation):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2969131/

Blood Donation, Payment, and Non-Cash Incentives: Classical Questions Drawing Renewed Interest
Published online Sep 21, 2009

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by GoodDay5150

I would guess that it is more cost effective to maintain a virtual database of potential donors rather than an actual database of potential donors. Most ppl on this site have a pretty good idea of how much medical care for our types of diseases costs, and the related costs of gathering, storing and maintaining the actual product would be very expensive.

We would be harvesting Bone Marrow from deceased organ donors -- so, someone who checked the "organ donation box". They would already be giving other organs, so it would be a trivial cost for us to additionally harvest bone marrow.

Also, something like 60% of the people who need bone marrow transplants currently *don't get them* and this would provide an additional source of marrow.

Not to mention the average wait time for those who DO get a transplant is 60 days, this method would be as short as 3.

With a small lab of ~150 samples, we could serve 20% of the population in need of a marrow transplant with a 7-8/8 quality sample and ~ 50% with a 6/8 quality sample.

Also, by using actual marrow vs. peripheral blood (the current norm), it appears we should be able to reduce graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) by 23% (53% with peripheral blood vs. 41% with marrow).

[dfantle]

Anthony, I'm intrigued. It does seem like a plausible idea.

Clearly there are tested reasons why donor stem cells & marrow are transfused fresh, although as non-donor (for autologous transplants) are not, I think it's definitely worth while to explore your idea further.

"Necessity is the power of invention", and the necessity definitely exists.

I'd be happy to brainstorm further on this. Though I'm curious how you came up with your percentages as they seem high. Also these days in the US, the a perfect match is 10/10 (I think some other countries still use an "8" matching system)