A study published July 15 led by the University of Minnesota Medical School revealed the socioeconomic status of cell donors can impact the effectiveness of their cell donation.
The study focused on cancer patients who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation, which includes bone marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood transplants.
Results showed the overall survival rate of people who received cells from those with a low socioeconomic status was about 10% lower than those who received cells from someone with a higher socioeconomic status.
There was an approximately 7% increase in patients who received cells from those with a lower socioeconomic status in treatment-related mortality, which is any cause of death other than relapse following a transplant, according to associate professor and lead author of the study Lucie Turcotte.
Turcotte said this research is not meant to discourage anyone from donating.
“We don’t want this research in any way to suggest that we would have less preference for people of low socioeconomic status in the donor pool,” Turcotte said.
The ultimate goal with transplants is to cure patients with cancer, Turcotte said. If the best-suited donor has a lower socioeconomic status, she said she would not want that transplant to be stopped or delayed.
“We, you know, on a larger scale, are so grateful for anybody who altruistically is willing to volunteer as a donor,” Turcotte said. “So we don’t in any way want our findings to suggest or raise any further discrimination or lack of interest in people who are willing and able to donate to help save other people with cancer.”
Turcotte said she and her team were struck by the finding that poverty and low socioeconomic status impact health on a cellular level.
“The most important part is hoping to draw attention to the fact that socioeconomic status is really driving health on a very deep level and probably warrants more public health interventions so that we can improve health in disadvantaged individuals more broadly,” Turcotte said.
Sarah Smith, 46, from Wausau, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2017. She said she was concerned this study could make people less likely to donate.
“I feel like everybody should be getting the same treatment wherever they go, but it’s just not the way our world works unfortunately,” Smith said.
The healthcare system has been a long, complicated process, Smith said.
“If you’re going in for a stem cell replacement or a blood transfusion like I’ve had, you want to invest in something that’s going to help you,” Smith said.
Turcotte said it is suspected the results of the study are due to a biological change in the cells based on socioeconomic status, but further research must be done to determine the exact driving factors behind the findings. She said it will take an understanding of how poverty and chronic stress impact gene expression at the cellular level.
“We’re doing some gene expression profiling to understand if there’s differences in gene expression that’s driving the changes in how these cells behave in the body,” Turcotte said.