It's a big week for Connecticut College's Michael Moran, a senior on the men's lacrosse team. However, while most students will be preparing for papers or exams, his focus will be on saving a life.
Earlier this year, Moran and many of his teammates took part in a Gift of Life donation drive done on campus. After a simple cheek swab revealed that he was a match, he agreed to donate stem cells that will be used to treat a person suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma.
The donation, which will help a 25-year-old female, will be made at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. Moran will be there to undergo the procedure from September 23-26.
"Finding out I was a match made me a little nervous, to be honest," said Moran. "I wasn't sure how intensive the process was going to be, but after speaking with the people at Gift of Life, they made it clear that there was nothing to worry about. At the end of the day, I was given the opportunity to help somebody, so I felt it was my responsibility to do so."
Over the past few months, Moran has done blood tests, physicals, and screenings to ensure that he is, in fact, a legitimate match, and to make sure his peripheral blood stem cells are safe to transfer into another person. He started taking injections of filgrastim five days prior to the donation in order to increase his density of white blood cells, which is important when donating stem cells.
The actual donation process (known as apheresis)—where blood is drawn from one arm, put through a filter to collects peripheral blood stem cells, and then reintroduced back into the other arm—takes around 4-6 hours. Following the procedure, Moran shouldn't suffer from any side effects or serious issues other than fatigue.
"Mike is the role model student-athlete for Connecticut College athletics," said head coach Jim Nagle. "He sets the standard for our team. His outstanding effort both in the classroom and on the field, combined with his compassionate desire to help others, is impressive to witness."
Moran is one of many who took part in the Gift of Life's "Saxton's Swab #2 Save Challenge", an initiative that has added nearly 1,000 lacrosse players to the donor registry, resulting in seven lifesaving transplants for individuals battling blood cancer or other blood disorders.
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a cancer of a type of white blood cell called a lymphocyte. Lymphocytes help protect the body from infection and disease. HL is just one of many types of lymphoma that affect lymphocytes; the others are called non-Hodgkin lymphomas. In HL, cancerous lymphocytes first appear in the lymph nodes, which are small organs throughout the body. As the disease progresses, the cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body.
HL can occur in both adults and children, but it is more common among young and older adults. In the United States, about 9,000 people are diagnosed with HL each year. For most, the cause of HL remains unknown.
An allogeneic transplant involves using healthy blood-forming cells from a donor. This donor can be a family member, an unrelated donor, or umbilical cord blood.
The process begins with a similar preparative regimen of chemotherapy. Afterward, the donor's blood-forming cells are infused into the patient's bloodstream, restoring the marrow much like an autologous donation. Only about 30% of patients needing a transplant have a fully matched family donor. For others, a search through the NMDP Registry can identify an unrelated donor.
Most transplants for HL are autologous. An allogeneic transplant may be used if a patient relapses after an autologous transplant.
