- A Northeast Tallahassee neighbor is trying to find a bone marrow donor match for FAMU professor Ancil Carruthers.
- Carruthers has a rare type of blood cancer.
- Watch the video to learn more about how they're tackling a bone marrow donor shortage.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“He's the kind of guy that you can count on to be there for you if you were ever in need. He's a lot of fun; he has the biggest heart,” Andrea Stephens said.
That’s how most would describe FAMU pharmacy professor Ancil Carruthers.
“I don't know anybody who has met Ancil, that doesn't love Ancil,” Andrea said.
But recently, doctors diagnosed him with a rare blood cancer, Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma. Now, he needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.
But there’s a shortage of Black donors. That's a problem his friend, Andrea Stephens, is trying to solve.
“In order for Ansel to find a match, he would need to find somebody that shares some of the same genetic traits as him… and that's when the idea for the donor swab events developed,” she said.
Only 29% of Black patients are able to find matching donors according to organization Gift of Life. That's compared to white donors who have better odds at 79%.
Brad Stephens, a doctor at TMH, tells ABC 27’s Brieanna Smith the donor shortage comes from misconceptions about donating.
“It’s just participation. It's a lot of misinformation, a lot of just being unaware that it exists,” he said.
One 2001 study cites lack of awareness and opportunities and even mentions mistrust in the medical system.
But Andrea is starting slow; first with FAMU students, registering them into a match pool.
“A 10 second swab of your cheek, and then once you're in the registry, if you do become a match for somebody, 90% of the time the donor is asked to give blood,” she said.
She’s hoping to get 100 more swabs over the weekend to improve Ancil’s odds, as well as odds for the entire Black community.
Bone marrow transplants can also treat sickle cell disease.
“If we can increase the likelihood of matches among all populations, whether African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Caucasian, everybody, I would love to see everybody have an equal chance at surviving blood cancers or blood-related illnesses,” Andrea said.
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