Campaign seeks 2,000 platelet donors

DEMAND for platelets has increased by more than 50% in the past five years, mainly due to the number of new cancer cases, it was revealed yesterday at the launch of a campaign to raise awareness of platelet donation.

While around 22,500 new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year, the number is expected reach around 43,000 by 2020.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service needs at least 22,500 donations of life-saving platelets per year, mainly to treat cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Platelets are a component of blood and are essential to enable the blood to clot properly. Chemotherapy often damages patients’ bone marrow cells where the platelets are made, making them prone to spontaneous bleeding.

A leukaemia patient who is undergoing chemotherapy may need between four and 10 platelet transfusions a week. A bone marrow transplant patient may need up to 60 units of platelets.

The blood bank collects platelets in two ways.

The first is by pooling, which involves processing platelets from whole blood donations. It takes four whole donations to produce one dose of platelets.

The second method is apheresis, a special type of donation that separates the platelets from the rest of the blood during donation. This process collects the same amount of platelets as those pooled from eight to 12 whole blood donations.

The IBTS and the Irish Cancer Society have joined forces to launch the donation awareness campaign.

IBTS medical director, Dr William Murphy, said the service was trying to limit patients’ exposure to many donors and collecting platelets through apheresis was preferable because it provided the safest possible product for the patient.

He also pointed out that the shelf life of pooled platelets was only five days, while the shelf life of apheresis platelets could be extended to seven days.

Only about 40% of platelets supplied to Irish hospitals are collected by apheresis but the IBTS and the Irish Cancer Society are aiming to recruit 2,000 new platelet donors to supply 100% apheresis platelets within the next three years.

Morgan Hackett, 44, from Dublin, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2000 and subsequently diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005, was at the campaign launch.

“I could not have committed to my chemotherapy without the blood products, including platelets, being available. I simply would not have survived,” she said.

* For further information on becoming a platelet donor, text ‘Platelet’ to 53377; email ann. [e-mail] or telephone [phone]. If you are based in Cork and are interested in finding out more about becoming a platelet donor, contact Sarah Harding on 021-4807400.

* If you are concerned or have been affected by cancer, call the National Cancer Helpline on freefone 1800-200700 (weekdays 9am to 5pm, Tuesdays until 9pm).