12 Years Since Robin Roberts' Bone Marrow Transplant After Breast Cancer
- “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts, 64, is celebrating 12 years since she returned to work after her life-saving bone marrow transplant, which she underwent to treat a secondary blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
- The MDS diagnosis followed her recovery from breast cancer after she was diagnosed and treated in 2007.
- When someone needs a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, they can undergo either an autologous transplant (in which the cells used are from your own body) or an allogeneic transplant (in which the cells used are from a donor).
- When an allogeneic transplant is needed, that’s where organizations like NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program), formerly known as Be the Match, which Roberts is an advocate for, come in to connect patients with donors who have the same tissue type.
- Since research has shown that younger donors’ cells result in more successful transplants, doctors often request donors between the ages of 18 to 35, approximately 80% of the time, NMDP explains.
Roberts had the transplant done, thanks to her sister who was a perfect match, to treat a secondary blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in September 2012, which followed her 2007 battle against breast cancer.
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She continued, “My sister, Sally-Ann, the donor, giving me the gift of life, but many are not as fortunate, 18,000 people a year a diagnosed with a disease that’s best treated with a transplant.
“12,000 of those patients will likely need an unrelated donor and must turn to registries. Like NMDP for the best chance at a cure.”
Robins also took to social media to celebrate the milestone event with a photo of her and her fellow “Good Morning America” co-hosts, Michael Strahan, Lara Spencer, George Robert Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, and even her beloved nephew.
She wrote, “What a special morn on @goodmorningamerica celebrating 12 years since I was blessed to be able to return to the anchor desk following my bone marrow transplant.
“Honored to have been joined by so many wonderful donors including my nephew Jeremiah and one very special young recipient Kelsey…all sharing their own stories.”
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She also shared a video clip on Instagram from when she returned to the news desk on February 20, 2013.
She wrote alongside the footage, “Will never forget returning to the anchor desk 12 years ago today following my bone marrow transplant.
“So grateful for all we’ve done since then to highlight the incredible need to increase the registries so others can have a second chance.”
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Robin Roberts Cancer Journeys
In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer. She first noticed a lump while preparing for a news segment about performing self-exams for your breasts. Self-exam includes pressing your fingertips along your breast in a circular motion.
In addition to battling breast cancer, Roberts also dealt with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which is a rare type of blood cancer where abnormal cells form in the body’s bone marrow.
Currently, a stem cell transplant is the only curative treatment option for MDS, but not every patient is a candidate for these intense treatments.
While dealing with the disease, Roberts said “physical exams, blood and painful bone marrow tests and chemotherapy” became her “new normal,” according to ABC News.
Thankfully, Roberts’ sister Sally-Ann was a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. Roberts underwent a successful bone marrow transplant procedure in September 2012.
Understanding Second Primary Cancer
According to the National Cancer Institute, “Nearly one in five cancers diagnosed today occurs in an individual with a previous diagnosis of cancer.” When this occurs and the new cancer diagnosis is unrelated to the previous diagnosis, it is considered a second cancer.
Research published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports says the risk of second primary cancer in patients previously diagnosed with cancer is about 20%. The chance of second primary cancer increases to “approximately 30%” in cancer survivors 60 and older.
The researchers believe as the number of cancer survivors increases with more advanced and effective cancer treatments, “the occurrence of multiple primary cancers is also likely to rise.”
The most common second primary cancers include “nonmelanoma skin cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.” A cancer survivor’s lifestyle and environmental factors may also factor into their second primary cancer risk.
What is Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)?
Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) occurs when there is a dysfunction in the bone marrow, which leads to the production of defective blood cells. This also leads to a decrease in the production of blood cells, which leads to low blood counts. There are different types of the disease and it can affect all types of blood cells. Ultimately, it is considered a bone marrow failure disorder.
Because it affects the bone marrow’s ability to produce enough healthy, functioning blood cells, the following symptoms may occur:
- Frequent infections
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Easy bleeding/bruising
If your doctor suspects you have MDS due to low blood cells, they will likely order a bone marrow biopsy. This can confirm MDS and provide other details about the cancer.
Dr. Jun Choi explains how MDS is diagnosed.
Once a patient is diagnosed, determining treatment will depend on several factors, as your doctor will assess blood counts, bone marrow, the number of immature cells in marrow, and how cells mature.
“You can think of MDS as a spectrum of diseases,” Dr. Lewis Silverman, director of the resource center for MDS at Mt. Sinai’s Tisch Cancer Institute, tells SurvivorNet. “On the one hand, there are patients who, when they present, are categorized as having very low-risk disease, and then it ranges up through middle categories to very high-risk disease. MDS patients can be categorized anywhere along that spectrum of disease.”
What are the Treatment Options?
For low risk MDS, no treatment may be necessary, but many patients will need medications or blood transfusions to help improve their blood counts.
For high risk MDS, more aggressive therapy is needed most commonly this will be a “hypomethylating agent” (HMA). These medications work by disrupting unregulated cancer cell growth. A stem cell transplant can also be considered, which is potentially curative.
Expert Resources On MDS
The treatment will depend on the type of MDS a person has, their general prognosis, and their overall health. MDS may be treated with the following approaches:
- Disease modifying therapies, such as chemotherapy or targeted therapy
- Supportive care, which could include blood transfusions or blood-stimulating medicines
- Blood and marrow transplants
- A combination of the above approaches
The type of treatment a person is given, and how often they need to undergo that treatment, depends largely on their individual disease factors. Genetic sequencing may also be required to look for specific genetic mutations that may alter the treatment course.
“MDS is actually a lot of different diseases all lumped into one,” Dr. Eytan Stein, Chief of the Leukemia Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. Dr. Stein explains that one of the types of MDS is characterized by a 5q deletion, which means part of chromosome 5 is missing. These patients tend to have isolated anemia with a “fairly elevated platelet count.”
In this situation, an oral medication called Revlimid may be used to treat the anemia quickly and efficiently. It’s generally well-tolerated in MDS patients, Dr. Stein explains.
Dr. Eytan Stein explains the different oral medications that can be used for different types of MDS.
Currently, a stem cell transplant is the only curative treatment option for MDS, but not every patient is a candidate for these intense treatments.
“The only curative option [for] MDS these days is a bone marrow transplant,” Dr. Choi explains. “Now, bone marrow transplant is one of the more intense therapies for MDS, so you really want to be able to tolerate this therapy. That is why this therapy is reserved mostly for younger patients and [those] who do not have other medical conditions.”
Because the majority of patients diagnosed with MDS are older, stem cell transplants are often not an option. But while the disease may not be cured, there are many options for managing it.
Why Do People Need Stem Cell Donations?
Both bone marrow transplants and stem cell transplants are procedures that replenish stem cells in bone marrow that were destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to kill cancer or treat another disease. According to City of Hope, the main difference between the two transplants is the origin of the stem cells:
- Bone marrow transplant stem cells are harvested from the bone marrow.
- Stem cell are harvested from the bloodstream.
Sometimes bone marrow transplants are simply referred to as stem cell transplants. And it’s important to note that stem cells from the bone marrow and the bloodstream are both responsible for restoring and renewing blood cells.
When someone needs a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, they can undergo either an autologous transplant (in which the cells used are from your own body) or an allogeneic transplant (in which the cells used are from a donor).
When an allogeneic transplant is needed, that’s where organizations like NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program), formerly known as Be the Match, come in to connect patients with donors who have the same tissue type.
How to Become a Donor in the United States
NMPD is a nonprofit that considers itself the “global leader in bone marrow transplantation.” You can join their donor registry if you are between the ages of 18 and 40.
If you join, you will have to swab your cheeks at home after filling out an online form or register at a local donor registry drive in your community so that your HLA type can be determined.
HLA, or human leukocyte antigen, typing is used to match patients and donors because “HLA are proteins — or markers found on most cells in your body” and “your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not.”
Once you’re in the system, it is a waiting game. You could be contacted shortly after your HLA type is determined, or it could take years because some HLA types are more common than others and there are many different types.
Donating as someone with a more common type could lead to more life-saving matches, but donating as someone with a less common type could mean you are the perfect match for someone who didn’t have many or any other matches in the registry.
To help more patients find a donor, more people with ethnically diverse backgrounds need to join the registry.
If you are contacted as a match, you will have to follow these steps before actually making a donation:
- Update your health information with a thorough questionnaire.
- Participate in an information session to learn about the two methods of donation: a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation or marrow donation.
- Sign a consent form if you agree to donate.
- Undergo a physical exam to see if your donation would pose any risk to your or the patient.
- Give blood samples at a donor center.
- If you’ve completed all these steps and you’re still considered a good match, it will be time to donate via one of the two methods.
A bone marrow donation is a surgical procedure done at a hospital operating room where doctors use needles to withdraw liquid marrow from both sides of the back of your pelvic bone.
A PBSC donation is done via a nonsurgical procedure called apheresis and is considered investigational because a study is currently being done to find out if blood-forming cells from the peripheral blood (the bloodstream) can be used as effectively as blood-forming cells from bone marrow for unrelated donor transplantation.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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