MSU community organizes bone marrow drive for student with cancer

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MSU students and officials are working to help an MSU student from Korea who has been diagnosed with a severe form of cancer.

The student, who does not wish to be identified, first was diagnosed in spring 2010 with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma — a rare form of cancer that attacks the immune system — and was treated with chemotherapy while attending MSU, senior International Student and Scholar advisor Brooke Stokdyk said.

Not only has he had to deal with a life-threatening disease, but he also has kept his condition private because of cultural principles, she said.

“Cancer and the need for transplant surgery is viewed very differently in Korean cultures than they are in U.S. cultures,” Stokdyk said. “It may be hard for us to understand that he really doesn’t want many people to know who he is.”

The Office for International Students and Scholars is hosting a bone marrow drive to help the student’s cause from 4-6 p.m. today in Spartan Rooms B and C in the food court of the International Center.

The student went into remission for some time and Stokdyk said she has been in close contact with him and his family since his diagnosis.

“We found out that recently his situation became dire — that he needs to find a bone marrow donor match,” Stokdyk said. “If he does not find a match for the transplant, his condition is terminal.”

Anna Graziano, comparative cultures and politics senior and intern in the Office of International Students and Scholars, helped organize the drive because she sees the students’ case as a pressing issue.

“We had heard about the student’s case, and so we decided that we would try to do everything we can to find him a match,” Graziano said.

Students can sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be The Match Registry at the event.

The process takes about 10 to 15 minutes and involves filling out forms with contact information and medical history and taking four cotton swabs in the cheek.

Registering does not mean a person has to donate, but they will be alerted if they are a match, said John Hill, manager of search fulfillment for the program’s East Lansing office.

In the National Marrow Donor Program, the match rate for Caucasians is higher than for non-Caucasians, so a match is likely to be someone of Korean descent, Stokdyk said.

There needs to be a genetic match between the bone marrow from the donor to the genetics of a recipient or the body will reject the bone marrow and the recipient could go into shock, professor of pediatrics and human development James Trosko said.

Stokdyk said the Office for International Students and Scholars has not held an event like this in the more than six years she has worked at MSU because, fortunately, there has not been a similar case.

“When somebody has this serious, life-threatening illness, all you can do is hope and pray that there’s something constructive we can do,” Stokdyk said. “We wanted to take that opportunity to at least try.”

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