When some 32,000 Israelis turned out to donate a blood
sample to the Ezer Mizion Data Registry last February, it
wasn't just Israeli cancer patients who were given new hope.
During the last few weeks the registry has received more
than 100 search requests from 12 of the largest cancer
hospitals and centers in the United States, who are also
hoping that some of the Israeli donors will be matches for
their cancer patients.
The rapid growth of the data registry from just 5,000 donors
in 1998 to more than 90,000 donors today, and its high
standards of testing, have garnered international
recognition for the registry. But while the accolades are
nice, the staff remains focused on its main job: finding
potential matching donors for cancer patients.
That job isn't always easy. Although much of the work
involves sitting in front of a computer and sifting through
databases, because of what is at stake -- a person's life --
the job often has all the emotional ups and downs of a
gigantic roller coaster ride.
Such was the case this past month.
A Time To Give
Everyone recognizes the importance of donating a blood
sample to a bone marrow data registry, but people are often
so busy that they may not take the time to go to a center to
give. However, seeing the picture or reading about the story
of a real cancer patient can galvanize the public to put
donating a sample on the top of the to-do list.
That happened six weeks ago, when the Israeli public was so
touched by the plight of 4-year-old Naama Bitoun -- whose
last chance at life is a bone marrow transplant -- that some
32,000 people practically stormed the 40 mobile blood donor
centers in their eagerness to donate a blood sample and help
save her life.
However, Naama is not the only Jew in desperate need of a
bone marrow transplant. Some 75 children and 25 adults
suffering from leukemia were also eagerly awaiting news of
the drive's results, including Alon Nitchiko, a 25- year-old
from Yerushalayim who has had cancer for eight years.
Although the odds of finding a match between a potential
donor and a cancer patient are only about 1 in 30,000, this
past month Ezer Mizion hit the jackpot twice: preliminary
testing of the samples found potential donors for both Naama
and Alon.
When the computer turns up a potential matching donor, the
next step is for an Ezer Mizion staff member to phone the
donor's home to see if he is, indeed, committed to
continuing with the process. If the answer is yes, the
potential donor has to come in for additional testing to
confirm that he is a suitable match. If he passes this
second test, he then has to agree to undergo the actual bone
marrow transfer procedure, which is painless but can take up
to two days to complete.
"Most potential donors are thrilled when they get the phone
call," comments Ofra Konikoff, the registry's donor
coordinator. "They're so excited about having the
opportunity to help save another person's life that all they
want to know is where they have to go and when they have to
be there."
Such was the case with the potential donor for Alon. But for
Naama's potential donor it was a very different story.
When the staff member phoned the home of the potential
donor, who was a young man, his father answered the
phone.
"We told the father why we were calling," says Konikoff,
"and there was a long silence. Then the father told us that
although he was sure his son would have liked to help, he
could not. His son was a soldier, and he had been killed in
a terrorist incident the week before."
According to Dr. Bracha Zisser, Director of the Registry,
the news came as a double blow to the staff members.
"Everyone was really hoping we would find a matching donor
for Naama," she says, "just as we root for all our cancer
patients, and once we find a potential donor that person
immediately becomes a part of the Ezer Mizion family.
Although we didn't have a chance to meet the young man who
could have saved Naama's life, we really felt that we had
lost one of our own.
"We're often not aware of how deeply connected we are to one
another," she continues, "but this experience really shows
how important every individual member of Klal Yisroel is to
us all."
Answering The Call
The Bone Marrow Data Registry staff knows they cannot dwell
on this sadness, for there are many other Jewish children
and adults throughout the world who are depending on Ezer
Mizion to give them a second chance at life. Already the
registry has found 15 matching donors for Jewish cancer
patients, and that number may soon significantly
increase.
From the additional 32,000 blood samples that were added to
the registry in February, they have found potential donors
for cancer patients receiving treatment at Boston-Dana
Ferber, City of Hope, Sloan Kettering and Crir. Still in the
search process are dozens of requests from hospitals and
cancer centers such as Fred Hutchinson, Texas, Wisconsin,
Stanford, Hackensack, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
Virginia and Gift of Life.
The Ezer Mizion registry was also contacted two weeks ago by
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), located in
Minneapolis, MN, about joining NMDP's network of
international affiliates. Since NMDP is the international
leader in the field of unrelated marrow and blood stem cell
transplants, it is quite an honor to become affiliated with
the organization.
"NMDP has very strict standards," comments Dr. Zisser, "so
the fact that they have shown an interest in our data
registry confirms that we are doing our job well."
According to research conducted by NMDP, approximately 40
percent of the bone marrow transplants they have facilitated
have involved matches between a U.S. patient and an
international donor or an international patient being
matched with a U.S. donor.
Such results do not surprise Dr. Zisser, who has claimed
from the beginning that the Ezer Mizion registry is a life-
saving resource not only for Israelis, but also for the
entire Jewish people.
"When matching potential donors with cancer patients," she
says, "what's important is their genetic similarities, and
not their geographic differences. Two Jews whose families
came from the same village one hundred years ago have a
better chance of being matches than two Jews who are next-
door neighbors today but come from very different
regions.
"That's why every Jew, no matter where he lives, should feel
he has a stake in the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Data
Registry," she continues. "We're here for everyone in the
event that, chas vesholom, they should need us."
Time is of the Essence
Despite the fact that many Israeli organizations are
beginning to slow down their activities during these last
few weeks before Pesach, the staff members of the registry
are still working at full-force to find matching donors for
the more than 100 requests they have received this month.
"Although we, too, have cleaning and shopping to do," says
Konikoff, "we know that with cancer, time is of the essence.
Behind every one of those requests is a person, someone like
Naama, who is praying that he or she will be redeemed this
Pesach -- that they will be freed from the bondage of their
illness and once again experience the freedom of good
health. So now, especially, we all want to do everything we
can to help."
