2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Prof's life saved
Gets marrow transplant in time
Lev D. Zilbermints
Issue date: 9/26/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
A Rutgers-Newark professor underwent a stem cell transplant last semester and survived. He will return to the teaching staff next semester.
Last semester Prof. Zachary Stoumos struggled to find a stem cell donor. But his life was saved by a timely stem cell transplant.
Stoumbos, chair of Management Science and Information Studies at the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick, is fighting Acute Lymphomatic Leukemia, a cancer of the blood. Only a bone marrow transplant could save his life. Now, thanks to support from the Rutgers community, a stem cell transplant has given Stoumbos a second chance at life.
Stem cell transplants are a relatively new and controversial procedure, said Lee Papayanopoulos, associate professor of computer information studies. He explained that in the past, the donor's hip bones were drilled and the bone marrow was extracted. It was an invasive and somewhat painful process, he said. This practice has been discarded, replaced extracting stem cells from the donor's blood.
Papayanopoulos said that the extraction of stem cells from the donor's blood is a little like doing a blood transfusion. The cells are removed from the blood and sent to the donor's hospital where they are injected intravenously into the patient.
"The correct term is not bone marrow, but a stem cell transplant," Papayanopoulos said.
One of the main factors complicating the match was ethnicity, said Papayanopoulos.
Because Zachary Stoumbos is Greek, finding a donor was very difficult. It took three months, ten blood drives and hundreds of donors before a match was found, said Papayanopoulos.
"The closer ethnically you are, the greater the compatibility. The smaller the ethnic group, the more difficult the case, because the genetic pool is confined [to that ethnic group,]" explained Papayonopoulos.
"The farther away you move geographically, the less chances of finding a suitable donor. Geographic proximity increases the probability of finding a genetic match. If you are Greek, another Greek will have high chance of matching, as will Italians, Jews, Albanians [people who live in the same geographic area]."
He was released from the hospital two weeks earlier than anticipated, said Papayanopoulos.
Papayanopoulos said that the Rutgers-Newark community gave Stoumbos "a great deal of support" in fighting leukemia. That support came "from family, friends, colleagues, and even hundreds of total strangers who volunteered to be bone marrow donors."
Some of Stoumbos's students also came to donate blood.
Asked about the identity of the donor, Papayanopoulos said that according to protocol, the donor is not identified.
Stoumbos's recuperation will take several months due to a weakened immune system, said Papayanopoulos. Because of the chemotherapy, the immune system is deficient, and infections must be avoided.
Last semester Prof. Zachary Stoumos struggled to find a stem cell donor. But his life was saved by a timely stem cell transplant.
Stoumbos, chair of Management Science and Information Studies at the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick, is fighting Acute Lymphomatic Leukemia, a cancer of the blood. Only a bone marrow transplant could save his life. Now, thanks to support from the Rutgers community, a stem cell transplant has given Stoumbos a second chance at life.
Stem cell transplants are a relatively new and controversial procedure, said Lee Papayanopoulos, associate professor of computer information studies. He explained that in the past, the donor's hip bones were drilled and the bone marrow was extracted. It was an invasive and somewhat painful process, he said. This practice has been discarded, replaced extracting stem cells from the donor's blood.
Papayanopoulos said that the extraction of stem cells from the donor's blood is a little like doing a blood transfusion. The cells are removed from the blood and sent to the donor's hospital where they are injected intravenously into the patient.
"The correct term is not bone marrow, but a stem cell transplant," Papayanopoulos said.
One of the main factors complicating the match was ethnicity, said Papayanopoulos.
Because Zachary Stoumbos is Greek, finding a donor was very difficult. It took three months, ten blood drives and hundreds of donors before a match was found, said Papayanopoulos.
"The closer ethnically you are, the greater the compatibility. The smaller the ethnic group, the more difficult the case, because the genetic pool is confined [to that ethnic group,]" explained Papayonopoulos.
"The farther away you move geographically, the less chances of finding a suitable donor. Geographic proximity increases the probability of finding a genetic match. If you are Greek, another Greek will have high chance of matching, as will Italians, Jews, Albanians [people who live in the same geographic area]."
He was released from the hospital two weeks earlier than anticipated, said Papayanopoulos.
Papayanopoulos said that the Rutgers-Newark community gave Stoumbos "a great deal of support" in fighting leukemia. That support came "from family, friends, colleagues, and even hundreds of total strangers who volunteered to be bone marrow donors."
Some of Stoumbos's students also came to donate blood.
Asked about the identity of the donor, Papayanopoulos said that according to protocol, the donor is not identified.
Stoumbos's recuperation will take several months due to a weakened immune system, said Papayanopoulos. Because of the chemotherapy, the immune system is deficient, and infections must be avoided.
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