Simple spit test to find bone marrow matches without donors having to visit the doctor



The saliva test saves potential donors from going to the doctors for a blood test

A British charity is hoping to double the number of lives saved by encouraging potential patients to take a quick spit test rather than give a blood sample.

The Anthony Nolan Trust said its donor register was the first in the world to use the 'revolutionary' new system, which it hopes will appeal especially to busy young adults.



Previously, would-be donors were asked to give blood samples to establish their tissue type, which meant visiting a doctor or attending a recruitment event in their area.



But the saliva kits launched today can be sent by post to those who want to join the register.



All they will need to do is complete a medical questionnaire, spit into a tube and send it back, the charity said.



Chief executive Henny Braund said: 'We're really excited about the switch to saliva testing. Ultimately, this is about saving more lives.



'Anthony Nolan provides two potentially lifesaving transplants every day, but there is an equal number that we can't currently help. We urgently need to increase the number of people on our register and saliva testing will help us do that much more quickly and effectively.'



The charity said the new saliva test was in part a response to busy modern lifestyles, which leave potential donors without the time to travel to a recruitment event.



Those wanting to join the bone marrow register must be aged between 18 and 40, weigh more than eight stone and be in general good health.



Bone marrow is a spongy material found inside the bones which produces stem cells.

Bone marrow and stem cell transplants can save the lives of those suffering from leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells.



Transplants are more likely to succeed if the donor has the same tissue type as the patient.



The saliva tests were welcomed by people affected by the disease.



Young Nick David needs a 100 per cent match with a bone marrow donor

Alison and Thomas Carroll, whose six-year-old son David needs a bone marrow transplant, said they hoped the new sampling method would encourage many more potential donors to join the register.



David has Fanconi Anaemia - a rare, inherited condition which causes bone marrow failure and a greatly increased risk of leukaemia.



He was diagnosed when he was two-and-a-half. The average age at which most youngsters with the condition need a transplant is 10.



Mrs Carroll, 35, said: 'He could develop leukaemia at any stage or his bone marrow could just start to fail at any stage. There's no set time plan.



'Some of the children go down much earlier and some of them don't. Some of them can go into their teens and not require a bone marrow transplant.



'We don't know so we have to watch it and see what happens.'



David undergoes regular testing and can get very ill when he contracts everyday infections. But, his mother said, he enjoys going to his local school near Sheffield, in the Peak District, and is 'getting away with being pretty normal' at the moment.



When David was first diagnosed, there were no matches on any register anywhere in the world.



In the last year, a nine-out-of-10 match has been found with one person in the UK.

But as David has a rare tissue type, the family needs a 10-out-of-10 match to ensure he does not develop the potentially fatal graft-versus-host disease.



Mrs Carroll, a former hospital doctor, said: 'We're very grateful for that person but we really need a perfect match so we're really desperate for people to get on that register.'

