Cryo stem cell bank: faster transplantation for leukemia

With the help of cryopreservation, DKMS has been able to store surplus donated adult stem cells at its Dresden site since November 2023 and make them available worldwide for transplantation for blood cancer. Transplant centers and search units can search for and request suitable blood stem cells from the new Stem Cell Bank via the DKMS Registry and the database of the Central Bone Marrow Donor Registry Germany (ZKRD), as the non-profit organization announced in Dresden on Thursday. It only takes a few days from the request for the material to its transportation to the clinic. This means that a transplant is possible much faster than before.

Elke Neujahr, Global CEO of DKMS Group gGmbH, spoke of "another important milestone in our life-saving mission". This significantly increases the chance of survival for blood cancer patients in 60 countries who need a transplant very quickly. The stem cell bank has been filling up since November 2023, with around 70 preparations currently available in the cryo tanks in Dresden.

According to DKMS, cryopreserved stem cells only take three days between the first request and transportation to the clinic - previously, the process of finding a donor to transplantation took several weeks. Another advantage is that they can be stored without the donors being present and are available immediately. This approach is unique worldwide, very uncomplicated and ethically sound, said the medical director of the DKMS Stem Cell Bank. Originally founded as an umbilical cord blood bank, it has many years of experience and extensive expertise in cryopreservation.

As Platz reported, many donors mobilize significantly more stem cells than a sick person actually needs. With their consent, the remaining cells are stored at minus 180 degrees Celsius in the gas phase above liquid nitrogen. In this way, two lives could be saved with a single donation.

According to DKMS, a person is diagnosed with blood cancer every 27 seconds worldwide, in Germany every twelve minutes. For many of the leukemia patients who need a stem cell transplant, the search for a genetic twin is "a race against time". Only around a third find a match within the family, the majority have to rely on other people, whereby specific tissue characteristics have to match as closely as possible. The earlier there is a match and the donation arrives, "the better the chances of survival and long-term recovery".