National Bone Marrow Donor Drive to be Held at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

BUFFALO, NY – Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, in conjunction with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), is holding a Bone Marrow Donor Drive in the main lobby of Roswell Park on Tuesday, April 27 from 4-6 p.m. Community members, ages 18-60, with no history of cancer, diabetes or heart problems, are invited to help share life at the drive by becoming a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donor.

Marrow and stem cell transplants are used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening blood diseases. Each year more than 30,000 children and adults are diagnosed with diseases for which a bone marrow transplant is the only chance for a cure. Only 30% of these people will find a matching donor within their families, making drives like this critically important.

A simple swab of the inside of the cheek gives the necessary tissue typing information needed for determining matches. All typing information collected at the drive will be put into the NMDP computerized registry that records individuals who have agreed to join the registry and potentially donate marrow or stem cells.

Donor screening is free at this drive, as the cost is covered by the NMDP and Marrow Drive Rochester.

To learn more about the National Bone Marrow Donor Drive to be held at Roswell Park, please call Terrie Carbone, Nurse Practitioner, Roswell Park, at (716) 845-8011. More information about the National Bone Marrow Donor Program can be found by visiting www.marrow.org or by calling Sue Paprocki of the National Marrow Donor Program at 1-888-298-6571 ext. 101.

The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs.

Media Contact

Annie Deck-Miller, Senior Media Relations Manager
716-845-8593; annie.deck-miller@roswellpark.org