Blood cancer patients who need lifesaving bone marrow and stem cell transplants will benefit from a new collaboration to speed up the search for a suitable match.
In a move that is expected to save many UK lives, the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry (WBMDR) will align its register into a single UK registry together with Anthony Nolan and the British Bone Marrow Registry (run by NHS Blood and Transplant).
The change took effect from September 1 and is the final piece of the jigsaw fully aligning all the UK registries for UK transplant centres. From this date, the new registry will be known as the Anthony Nolan & NHS Stem Cell Registry.
The alignment is part of delivering recommendations from the Stem Cell Strategic Forum that together will save over 200 lives through increasing the number and quality of stem cells available for transplant in the UK.
Before the move, transplant centres had to search for donors through individual registers. By working closer together, this will improve outcomes for UK patients. Each of the registers will continue to operate independently internationally.
Anthony Nolan and the BBMR aligned their services in January 2012, operating as a combined Registry for UK transplant centres. The addition of the WBMDR will now improve this process further; an exciting collaboration which has ultimately been made possible thanks to support from the Department of Health.
Anthony Nolan Chief Executive Henny Braund explains: ‘By working closer together, we will save more lives - every minute counts when you need a bone marrow transplant. However, this alignment brings so much more than lifesaving speed; sharing donor information will help Anthony Nolan’s scientists learn more about the genetic patterns that helps us recruit the right selection of potential donors and make finding a match much easier.
‘The world’s first bone marrow donor register was set up in the UK by Shirley Nolan in 1974, as she fought to find a match for her son, Anthony Nolan. Almost 40 years later we are still advancing as our scientists refine the register and search techniques. Aligning our registers is a key part of our journey towards providing a transplant for everyone that needs one.’
Lynda Hamlyn, Chief Executive of NHS Blood and Transplant said: ‘Working together with Anthony Nolan and now welcoming the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Register to this alignment is a great step forward. This will streamline the service and help consultants in the UK find the right match for their patients more quickly and more effectively.
‘We want to see hospitals embrace the idea of “buying British” and the coming together of all the UK stem cell services will make it much easier for transplant centres to search for a potential donor. This means more British donors saving lives, which is more cost effective for the taxpayer than importing a stem cell donation from overseas.’
Dr Geoff Poole, Director of the Welsh Blood Service, added: ‘We are delighted to be working in partnership with Anthony Nolan and NHSBT to form an aligned register. Working together and having one search unit will simplify and speed up the process which will ultimately help save more lives.
‘At this very moment, thousands of patient and their families are still waiting to find a suitable volunteer donor. Time is of the essence. To enable us to give patients hope and a second chance, it is vital we increase the number of donors on our register.
‘While every volunteer is a hero, we actively need more male donors on our register as male donors currently account for just 14% of all donors on the WBMDR register.’