Since September of 2018 is fixed: Astrid G. (41) has blood cancer. This shock-diagnosis to get more than 10,000 people each year in Germany. The mother of two has a particularly aggressive Form of leukemia, AML. The cancer cells multiply themselves rapidly. But there is hope: With a donation of matching stem cells can be Astrid is healthy. A " must;genetic Zwilling" be found whose tissue characteristics match, the 41-year-old Two-time mother. This is not for transplant, is important to the immune system to the foreign cells repels. And here lies the Problem.
Astrid G.’s parents have different ethnicities. Her mother is German, so European. Her late father was from Nigeria, was West African. The tissue characteristics, which occur already in the millions of combination, are in different ethnic groups with different frequencies. Children get these so-called HLA-characteristics of half of the mother and the father inherited. Cancer physician Hermann Einsele said: "In the case of stem cell donations, for a quarter of the patients HLA-identical donor in a brother or sister. Other relatives are less than one percent suitable."
Only 3 percent of donors have a mixed-ethnic origin
Ideally, a donor would be for the woman with the radiant Smile, a donor with German and Nigerian roots. Of all the international registered potential stem cell donors, but are mixed for three per cent-ethnic. German-Nigerian or, at least, European-African, are much less.
To find this needle in a haystack, Astrid G. all the levers in motion. The professionally run Internet-page "help astrid.com" calls for worldwide registration. the Motto is #Matchmymix.
"I want my children to grow up sehen"
Not a solution, is to abandon the 41-Year-old said to various media. "I want my children to grow up sehen" and her husband, Florian (43) support. He sits in a wheelchair since five years ago a car on his scooter. 
www.help-astrid.com Happier days: Astrid G. with your family
Support the German-Nigerian woman at the würzburg University hospital. There is intensive research on the topic of leukemia and there is a stem-cell-center. To the local specialists of the würzburg club "Help in the fight against Krebs" Astrid G. conveys, which comes from the city on the Main.
Now the biggest problem was actually to find a matching stem cell donor. For German patients without migration background found in more than 90 percent of the cases, a suitable donor, explains cancer researcher Professor Hermann Einsele of the University hospital of Würzburg.
Transplantation should be done in the next few months
Since then, Astrid’s blood cancer was diagnosed, have you met many people who were also suffering from leukemia and it was found that "All the other patients I met in the course of my disease, have now found a donor." Maybe it works for you. This hope you will not for a long time. But she also has no time to lose. In the next few months, the transplant had to happen-saving stem cells, says cancer expert Einsele.
At the beginning of the registration as a stem cell donor on the page www.stammzellspenderdatei.de , password is “Astrid”.
On this page, there is also extensive information about the stem cell donation, about, what is the meaning of the registry for a potential donor as a donation expires, or what the risks are.
Also in the direction of the registry you will be guided on the page www.help-astrid.com .
Who wants to register in person: [email protected].
*The contribution of “blood cancer patient finds a donor, because her father is from Nigeria” comes from inFranken.de. There is no editorial review by FOCUS Online. Contact with the executives here.