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Anyone had a Haplo Transplant?

I am curious to know if anyone reading this has had a Haplo Transplant? These are using a half matched donor - eg a parent or a child. Four years ago, I was told my children could not be considered as donors, I havd no siblings and an unrelated match could not be found. I eventually received a double cord blood transplant with the units coming from Kazakstan and Slovakia. To my amazement, at my last appointment
I was told that things have moved on and today my daughters would be considered as potential donors. This sounds like a fantastic development - using a donor a lot closer to home!

I'd be very interested if anyone has experience of this, or perhaps Hayley could comment, please.
Many thanks,
Sue

Comments

  • Hi Sue
    Thanks for posting this, it is a really good question. Haploidentical transplants are now being considered more and more for patients who do not have a sibling or unrelated donor match. In the last few years they have been using haplo in the UK and Europe and the results are very promising. Because the match is only half of what a sibling or unrelated donor would be you would expect more complications and GvHD but research has shown that this is not the case. The way that a haplo is given is slightly different in that after the infusion of cells the patient will receive another dose of chemotherapy. This sounds very strange but it is what prevents the potential of worse GvHD. At one time cord transplants were the main alternative to sibling or unrelated donors but now the use of haplo and cord are on equal par. It is important to know that not all transplant centres will use haplo as a treatment choice. It is still early days but it looks very promising and gives options for patients with rare tissue types or who need a transplant quickly.
    We have some factsheets on haplo transplants that you can look at on our website https://www.anthonynolan.org/sites/default/files/AN Factdheet_HAPLOIDENTICAL_Fin1.1.pdf

    It would be great to hear from patients that have had a haplo too.

    Thanks
    Hayley
  • Sue, how are you now after your double cord transplant?
  • Hi Loobs,

    I'm virtually back to normal, thank you. It's nearly 4 years since the transplant now, I'm still in remission from non Hodgkin's lymphoma, touch wood, and I'm only at the hospital every six months for a check up. I'm sure I've had less GvHD than a lot of people who have donor transplants. The cords don't need to be a 10/10 match. I think this is because the stem cells in the cords aren't mature like donor stem cells.

    It does take longer for the transplant to engraft. I was in hospital for five and a half weeks and initially it took a long time for my body to recover - loss of appetite, diarrhoea etc. But it was worth it.

    With very best wishes,

    Sue
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