SEATTLE — Nov. 1, 2011 — Age alone no longer should be considered a defining factor when determining whether an older patient with blood cancer is a candidate for stem cell transplantation. Sorror and colleagues previously developed and published the Hematopoietic Cell Transplant-specific Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) by studying the associations between single comorbidities (such as diabetes, heart diseases, etc) and mortality after a stem cell transplant. The findings are published Nov. 2 in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors weigh many factors when selecting a donor for one of their patients; the age of the potential donors is one of them. Professor Steven Marsh, Director of Bioinformatics at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute and co-author of the paper ‘Development of an Unrelated Donor Selection Score Predictive of Survival after HCT: Donor Age Matters Most’, published online this week in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, said: “These results are extremely significant for transplant clinicians who have patients with multiple HLA matches. Be The Match could work around this standard if there was a compelling reason to do so, but the simple fact is—no registry in the world keeps donors past the age of 60. You can: Join a community transplanting hope. Information about patients. Laboratory and organ-function values were used to refine the definition of comorbidities. Chief Medical Officer Dennis Confer, MD, says, “I myself turned 61 in March. For registering as a potential blood stem cell donor, as well as for donating blood stem cells, there is a maximum Body-Mass-Index (BMI) limit of 40. We are an Affirmative Action employer. Main Campus Stem Cell Treatment for Muscular Dystrophy, Stem Cell Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cell Treatment for Intellectual Disabilities, Stem Cell Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction, Stem Cell Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries, Stem Cell Treatment for Ankylosing spondylitis, Stem Cell Treatment for Optic Nerve Atrophy, Stem Cell Treatment for Optic nerve hypoplasia, Stem Cell Treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa. April 2nd: New Directions in the Diagnosis & Treatment of Hematologic Cancer... Post-transplantation Relapse in Lymphomas, A New Procedure Called HIPEC Offers New Treatment Options for Cancer Patients, How You Can Manage Cancer-Related Fatigue. People over age 60 may not join the registry. It is very clear that blood stem cells ages just like other organs; the cellularity of blood stem cells declines with age. Save more lives through cellular therapy by improving donor availability and removing barriers to transplant for patients of Latino descent. Older patients may find their general health deteriorates during multiple courses of chemotherapy and thus, they may not be a candidate for transplant.

Fred Hutch is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) Employer. If you do blood stem cell transplants serially in mice, the blood stem cells poops out when the telomeres are gone. No. Can blood stem cells from a 65-year-old donor last another 45 years or more in a 20-year-old recipient? We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, age, disability (physical or mental), marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology, or membership in any other legally protected class. For instance, while 50 would be considered relatively young for a blood cancer, a 50-year old patient who smoked heavily would be a poor candidate for transplant. Does your age influence stem cell treatment success? The 2013 change means Canada has one of the lowest age cut-offs in the world for blood stem cell donation.

LATEST: Other indications include disease progression and overall health. We don’t know, but a lot of doctors are reluctant to do the experiment. Most of these registries consider members already on the file eligible to donate up to age 60. On the other hand, an 80-year-old patient in excellent health might be an optimal candidate. Learn more. Patients as old as 80 could be considered for transplant if it is initial in the course of treatment. The patients in the study were treated for acute and chronic leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes (which can progress to acute myeloid leukemia if not treated) and myeloproliferative diseases such as chronic myelogenous leukemia. Be the Match, a bone marrow registry, has a stem cell donation age limit of over 60 years old. Although this is not a surgical operation, there will … Barbara and Griff Lewis invest $600K in transplant research. WMDA standards require donor registries to stipulate an upper age limit not to exceed 60 years.