Transplant Recipient and Donor Meet in Cherkasy
In a landmark event for Ukrainian medicine, a bone marrow transplant recipient has met her unrelated donor for the first time. The meeting took place at the Cherkasy Clinical Oncology Center, timed poignantly ahead of World Cancer Day to highlight the critical role of donation in treating oncological diseases. Bone marrow transplants are a complex and often life-saving procedure for patients with blood cancers.
The recipient is 32-year-old Olha Tarasiuk from Cherkasy. In the summer of 2023, she began experiencing symptoms like bruising and bleeding gums, which led her to seek medical help. Following tests, Olha was referred to the Cherkasy oncology center, where she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. A bone marrow transplant became her only viable treatment option.
The donor is Halyna Zarubenko, an anesthesiologist from Uman. She joined the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Registry after the full-scale invasion began. A little over a year after registering, she received a call asking her to be a donor. The donation was carried out using a method that collects stem cells from the blood after medication-based stimulation. The transplant was performed in November 2023.
The Significance of Donation and Transplantation
The donation and transplant occurred two years ago. Notably, both women live in the same region, less than 200 km apart. According to the standards of the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, information about donors and recipients remains confidential for two years. After this period, a meeting becomes possible, and Olha Tarasiuk herself initiated the request to the Registry for this encounter.
Bone marrow transplants are performed in 13 medical facilities across Ukraine. Since 2024, the state has fully funded organ and bone marrow transplants through the Medical Guarantees Program. Over six years of operation, the transplant service at the Cherkasy oncology center has performed 330 transplants, of which 130 were allogeneic and 74 were from unrelated donors. Only 25% of patients have a genetic match among close relatives, underscoring the vital importance of donor registries in Ukraine.
Halyna Zarubenko noted that she had previously donated blood, but with the start of the full-scale war, she decided to do something especially meaningful.
This meeting marks a significant step in the development of transplantology in Ukraine and reinforces the idea of donation's importance in saving lives. The event not only highlights advances in Ukrainian medicine but also emphasizes how bone marrow donation can be a lifesaving chance for many cancer patients. The growing number of donors and state funding for transplants point to positive changes in the country's healthcare system.