Mismatched Unrelated Donors: A Key to Erasing the Gap in Donor Availability in HCT

In the 100th episode of the Onco’Zine Brief, Peter Hofland, Ph.D. talks with Stephen Spellman, Vice President of Research and Senior Scientific Director of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research at the National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match. In the program today Hofland and Spellman talk about bone-marrow transplants.The likelihood of finding a fully matched unrelated donor for a patient who needs a bone marrow transplantvaries greatly depending on a patient’s ethnic background, and that ethnically diverse patients have – historically – been at a disadvantage. However, new research shows that when donor registry models are expanded to include mismatched unrelated donors, finding access for patients may greatly improve.[1]Based on this understanding, Spellman believes that mismatched unrelated donors hold the key to erasing the gap in donor availability and deliver allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to all patient populations.For more information about the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, please visit the organization’s website. About The Onco'Zine BriefThe Onco'Zine Brief is distributed in the United States via PRX (Public Radio Exchange). In the United Kingdom and Europe, the program is distributed via UK Health Radio (UKHR). And the program can be downloaded via most podcasts and streaming media services, including iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.For more information about The Onco'Zine Brief or how to sponsor or support this public radio broadcast and podcast, visit to download our Media Kit, visit Patreon at or contact the sales team.For more information about cancer and cancer treatments, visit our online journal Onco'Zine.To sign up for The Onco'Zine Newsletter (open for residents of the United States only), text the word CANCER to 66866. The Onco’Zine Brief is made possible, in part, by Java Original Coffee – the home of artisan roasted coffee.Reference[1] Spellman S. Is finding a Donor for All in Need of Allogeneic HCT Possible? New Modeling Says Yes – Onco’Zine on September 5, 2022. [Link to article]Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-onco-zine-brief--2786156/support.