"this approach could be used to recruit more donors"
A first-of-its-kind project has recruited 10,000 Indian stem cell donors in a bid to improve treatment outcomes for British Asian patients and address long-standing health inequalities.
UK stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan collaborated with DATRI, India’s largest stem cell donor registry, on the three-year pilot project, which used data-driven recruitment to expand the pool of potential donors for patients of South Asian heritage.
Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the initiative aimed to address the global shortage of stem cell donors from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Stem cell transplants can offer a potentially curative treatment for blood cancers and blood disorders.
However, patients from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK are more likely to have rare tissue types, making them less likely to find an unrelated matching donor than patients of white or Northern European heritage.
To improve these patients’ chances, researchers at Anthony Nolan used data-driven approaches to identify areas of India where recruitment could have the greatest impact.
Their analysis found that north-western regions, including Rajasthan and Gujarat, had the highest concentration of potential donors with tissue types similar to those most needed by UK patients.
Although the project was designed with British Asian patients in mind, expanding the diversity of the global stem cell register could benefit patients of South Asian heritage worldwide.
Ten donors recruited through the initiative have already gone on to donate to patients in India who needed a stem cell transplant.
Analysis of the newly recruited donors found that eight in 10 had tissue types not currently represented on the Anthony Nolan register.
UK patients searching DATRI’s register were also six to seven times more likely to find a 10/10 match among the newly recruited donors than among the rest of DATRI’s registered donors.
The findings highlight the potential benefits of targeted recruitment in addressing a significant gap in stem cell donation.
Although patients are more likely to find a successful match with someone of similar heritage, the global donor pool does not adequately reflect the world’s population.
Two-thirds of registered stem cell donors worldwide are from Europe and North America, while only 16 per cent of potential donors across the aligned UK registry come from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The shortage of suitable donors can have serious consequences for patients.
Research from Anthony Nolan has found that Asian patients in the UK have poorer survival rates than white patients following a stem cell transplant. Asian cancer patients are 1.5 times more likely to die from complications within five years of a donor transplant than their white counterparts.
Dr James Robinson, director of bioinformatics at Anthony Nolan and leader of the study, said:
“Our research shows that targeted, evidence-based recruitment and international collaboration can help diversify the global pool of stem cell donors and improve the chances of patients finding a matching donor.
“The British Asian population is the largest minority ethnic group in the UK, making this collaboration with DATRI a natural first step to investigate the use of data-driven recruitment to reduce inequities.
“In future, this approach could be used to recruit more donors from India or other underrepresented regions, with the potential to save countless lives.”
Yasmin Sheikh, head of policy and public affairs at Anthony Nolan, said finding matching donors remained a critical challenge, particularly for patients from minority ethnic backgrounds who were more likely to have rare tissue types.
Claudia Rutt, CFO at DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry, added:
“Technology and data have helped us to identify where donor recruitment can have the greatest impact and reach communities that are underrepresented in the global donor pool.
“With Anthony Nolan’s research expertise and support, and funding from the NIHR, we have recruited 10,000 additional Indian donors, strengthening the diversity of the Indian-origin donor pool.
“What makes this achievement particularly meaningful is that donors recruited through this initiative have already given 10 patients a second chance at life.
“We hope this is just the beginning, and that many more patients in India, the UK and around the world will have the chance to find their lifesaving match.”
The impact of finding a suitable donor is reflected in the experience of 75-year-old Pradeep Thatai, from Kent, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia following a routine blood test and bone marrow biopsies.
After undergoing intensive chemotherapy, he was told that a stem cell transplant offered his best chance of a cure. He received a transplant from an Indian donor in July 2022.
He said:
“I was told that because I’m from Indian heritage, it might take longer for me to find a donor.”
“I was expecting it to take months or even years, but within a few weeks I was told there was a 100% match for me – a donor based in India.
“It’s now been four years since my transplant and I’m in full remission. I feel so grateful to my donor. He lives on the other side of the world to me, but if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today.
“It’s amazing that this project has recruited an additional 10,000 Indian donors. I remember how scary it was waiting for a donor – projects like this could go on to save the lives of people like me anywhere around the world.”
