by Cheryl Leschasin
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 07/97) - Travis Arychuk is on the road to recovery, after undergoing a bone marrow transplant procedure, April 11 at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary.

A month after the procedure, Dr. Max Coppes, director of cancer programs at the hospital, reports steady improvement in the 13-year-old Yellowknifer's condition.

"The graft has taken and he is improving," said Coppes.

Travis is still dealing with side effects, but has been well enough to spend a couple of nights out of the hospital.

There are no discharge plans in the near future. Travis' doctors need to monitor his condition for a while yet.

The procedure that saved Travis' life is a relatively new one -- it has only been performed for the last 18 months in Alberta.

In this procedure the donor is given a growth hormone for four to five days prior to the donation.

A blood filtration will show the hormone has stimulated the bone marrow, increasing the quantity of stem cells. More stem cells means the chances are better the procedure will succeed.

Because virtually no bone marrow matches perfectly, it is necessary to filter out harmful cells in the donor marrow.

In the past, important stem cells were partially filtered out, along with the harmful cells. With the new procedure, stem cells are still filtered out, but enough get through to allow a graft to take successfully.

Travis is fortunate to have been able to participate in this still-new donor program. "Thirty per cent of patients who need a transplant will not find a donor," said Coppes. After an unsuccessful search of the international Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry, Travis could have been counted in that statistic, had it not been for this medical breakthrough.

The new technique allowed Travis' father, Peter, to donate even though he isn't a close match. Previously, chances were high Travis's immune system would have rejected his father's marrow.

In fact, the procedure is so helpful it can be employed in nearly every marrow transplant case. "By increasing the number of stem cells, grafts take quicker and are more successful," said Coppes.