Today, leukemia is the type of cancer that most affects the child population in Spain. The National Registry of Childhood Tumors estimated that 27% of children between 0 and 14 years old suffer from this condition of blood tissues. In 2022, a total of 288 cases were detected among children and adolescents, and early detection can be decisive. Likewise, treatment is also key in this type of situation.
Such an eventuality is that of Alejandro, a 10-year-old boy who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2021. During the most recent stage of his life he has been receiving chemotherapy treatment, waiting for the cancer to subside. However, the young man from Malaga faces an added difficulty. With four weeks left to finish his sessions, he still has not found a 100% compatible bone marrow donor.
Different local institutions have mobilized to help Alejandro find a donor, from the National Police to the Málaga Football Club. Despite efforts, however, the right person has not appeared. The level of compatibility makes the task difficult, and the requests intensify as the days go by. The last of them was issued by his mother, María Luisa Alcaraz, through a video call on Y Ahora Sonsoles.
“We are worried, and trying to take advantage of the weeks ahead of us to see if we find our match,” he explained. The mother has also detailed that Alejandro was in isolation and receiving treatment prior to the transplant, while the search continues. María Luisa has asked for citizen collaboration and for her to know the donation process, which works through a simple blood test in which you can find out if stem cells can be extracted from your bone marrow.
“Every year 6,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia in Spain. Many will need a bone marrow transplant to overcome the disease. 3 out of 4 patients will not have a compatible family member,” explains the Josep Carreras Foundation, giving perspective to Alejandro's current situation. To be a bone marrow donor, which is currently being sought for treatment, you must be between 18 and 40 years old, healthy and weigh more than 50 kilos.
If compatible, the Foundation details two different methods to extract blood stem cells from the marrow. The first of them consists of subcutaneous injections for 4 or 5 consecutive days, thus spreading its circulation in the blood supply. The second option consists of extracting “medullary blood from the iliac crests”, performed under anesthesia and requiring a 24-hour hospital stay.
