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. 2022 Sep;117(9):1121-1125.
doi: 10.1111/vox.13294. Epub 2022 May 18.

Demand and usage of unrelated donor products for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry analysis

David S Allan  1   2   3 , Meagan Green  1 , Gail Morris  1 , Jason Weiss  1 , Nicholas Dibdin  1 , Dena Mercer  1 , Matthew Seftel  1   4
Affiliations

Demand and usage of unrelated donor products for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry analysis

David S Allan et al. Vox Sang. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Understanding changes in the demand and usage of unrelated allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) donors during the COVID-19 pandemic is needed to optimize pandemic preparedness of registry and donor collection services. The aim of this study was to understand the extent to which the pandemic has impacted the demand and usage of unrelated donors and cord blood units (CBUs) at Canadian Blood Services (CBS).

Materials and methods: Data regarding stem cell donor interest and product usage for unrelated allogeneic HCT were retrieved from the database at CBS using de-identified anonymous information.

Results: Unrelated donor searches for Canadian patients remained unchanged by the pandemic, reflecting stable demand. The number of unrelated allogeneic transplants performed within Canada also remained stable, while the number of cord blood transplants increased, chiefly for paediatric patients. Requests for donor verification typing, a first signal of potential interest, increased from domestic centres during the first 6 months of the pandemic and decreased from international centres, before returning to baseline levels. The proportion of transplants for Canadian patients who used stem cell products procured from Canadian donors increased between 3 and 6 months after the start of the pandemic before returning to baseline and appears to be increasing again more than 1 year after the start of the pandemic. Use of CBUs for Canadian paediatric patients increased and remains elevated.

Conclusion: Demand for unrelated adult HCT donors has remained stable despite the evolving pandemic with a transient and recurring increased interest and usage of domestic adult donors. Use of CBUs for paediatric patients has increased and remains elevated. Registries and donor collection centres should maintain the capacity to expand services for domestic donor collection during pandemics to offset threats to international donor usage.

Keywords: COVID-19; cord blood; donor usage; haematopoietic cell transplantation; pandemic; unrelated donor.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors are employed and/or paid consultants at Canadian Blood Services. There are no other conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Efforts to identify donors on the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry by Canadian transplant centres, as reflected by increased requests for verification typing (VT), which increased during the initial 3–6 months after the start of the pandemic (black), with reduced requests from international centres (grey). Overall VT requests appeared to return to pre‐pandemic levels approximately 6 months into the pandemic
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Proportional use of Canadian donors, as opposed to international donors, for Canadian patients, plotted over time. An apparent increase was observed for a brief period of several months starting from 3 months after the onset of the pandemic and may be increasing again in the most recent 3‐month period
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Usage of stem cell products from Canadian donors plotted over time. (a) Total number of unrelated donor products collected (black) and number of cord blood units (CBUs) distributed (grey) from Canadian donors. (b) CBUs distributed from the Canadian Blood Services cord blood bank over time to both Canadian (black) and international (grey) transplant centres
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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