LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In March 2022, Nick De Graw was a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering at University of California, Irvine when he thought he might have mononucleosis. For a few weeks prior to visiting a local emergency room, he experienced persistent night sweats and malaise.
The Laguna Niguel resident, who was 20 at the time he was diagnosed, received a bone marrow biopsy, which revealed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“I definitely felt shock hearing that I had cancer,” De Graw, 23, said. “There was a fear of the unknown.”
Fast forward three years and De Graw is cancer-free and will graduate in June with a mechanical engineering degree. Under the care of Monzr Al Malki, M.D., director of its Unrelated Donor BMT Program and Haploidentical Transplant Program at City of Hope®, De Graw endured several months of treatment that included radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and eventually a blood stem cell transplant from an unrelated German donor that put his cancer in remission.
“It’s incredible that a person who has never met me would do so much for me,” said De Graw, who received his transplant on Sept. 22, 2022. “I don’t know that much about him and I don’t think he knows that much about me, but I am very grateful for what he did.”
On Friday, May 2, at 10 a.m. on City of Hope Cancer Center’s Duarte campus, De Graw will meet the young man who saved his life. Alexander Hoppe, 28, of Rheine, Germany, who registered to become a donor through DKMS, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the lives of patients with blood cancer and related disorders, will travel to the United States for the first time to meet De Graw for City of Hope’s 49th BMT Reunion.
For nearly 50 years, grateful patients have met their donors at City of Hope’s reunion to thank them for a second chance at life. Bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants are lifesaving procedures that can put blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma into remission; donors provide their bone marrow or stem cells to patients.
The reunion will begin with a press conference where two patients meet their donors for the first time. In addition to De Graw and Hoppe, leukemia survivor Pete Ernaut, 60, of Reno, Nevada, and Juan Antonio Rios, 33, of Frutillar, Chile, will also meet at the reunion.
"City of Hope extends its deepest gratitude to the countless selfless individuals who donate their bone marrow or stem cells each year to save lives," said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., renowned hematologist and director of City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute. "Whether donors are a family member or an unrelated person, we are profoundly thankful for their generosity and the second chance at life they provide."
This year’s reunion also marks another celebration — City of Hope recently performed its 20,000th transplant, making it one of the first cancer centers nationwide to reach that milestone. Started in 1976, City of Hope has helped pioneer several BMT innovations, including being one of the first institutions to successfully perform BMTs in older adults and one of the first worldwide to cure a patient with HIV and leukemia from those diseases with a transplant. City of Hope has also had growing success with nonrelated matched donors and, most recently, half-matched family donors.
Building on its BMT expertise, more than 1,700 patients have been treated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy at City of Hope, which is also leveraging this immunotherapy as a pathway to a successful transplant.
City of Hope’s blood cancer expertise, including blood and stem cell transplants, is now available at its cancer centers in Orange County, Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix, bridging existing gaps by expanding access to optimal cancer care for patients navigating leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related hematologic diseases.
City of Hope Finds a Donor in Chile
On Christmas Day 2018, severe chest pains, as well as back and hip pain, sent Ernaut to an emergency room. What he thought might be a minor issue turned out to be a life-altering diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
"I never had any symptoms prior to that," said Ernaut, who spent that Christmas in a hospital. "I couldn't believe what was happening to me."
As a longtime lobbyist in Nevada, Ernaut leaned on his team and friends to advise him on where to seek the best cancer care. The consensus seemed clear. He should become a patient of Dr. Forman, a world-renowned hematologist.
Before boarding a plane to Los Angeles, Ernaut struggled to tell his children — ages 20, 18, 16 and 14 at the time – that he had been diagnosed with a severe form of cancer.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve even had to tell my children,” Ernaut said. “I had to say: ‘Hey, Dad has something really bad and I gotta go away. I sort of spared them the ‘if I'm coming back part’. But I had no idea.”
Ernaut immediately began chemotherapy. Further tests revealed that Ernaut had a genetic mutation called Philadelphia chromosome positive, which could be treated with a different therapy.
Within 28 days, Ernaut's cancer was in temporary remission. But he would need a bone marrow transplant to put the cancer into permanent remission. City of Hope found a perfect donor match, but the person couldn't donate at the last minute. Another donor was found in the city of Frutillar in southern Chile, also through the DKMS bone marrow registry. Ernaut’s transplant took place June 13, 2019.
Eighteen days later, Ernaut left City of Hope’s inpatient hospital and rented a home in nearby Monrovia for his recovery. Throughout the process, Ernaut relied on City of Hope's supportive care services to help him cope. He received counseling, physical therapy and spiritual support.
“I used every service I could possibly use to stay one step ahead and to stay positive,” he added.
As soon as Ernaut could reach his donor in Chile — there is a two-year wait period — the pair reached out to each other. Rios said he joined the DKMS registry because – like De Graw’s donor – he knew it might lead to helping a person in need. At the time, Rios knew Martin, 9, son of coworker Ivan Brand, had leukemia and Brand had encouraged Rios and others to join the registry. (Rios proudly points out that he was one of the first DKMS donors to provide stem cells and that Martin found a donor through DKMS as well.)
“It’s incredibly exciting to meet (Juan Antonio) in person,” Ernaut said. “Not only did he save my life, but he's like a part of me now."
About City of Hope
City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines, as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center that is ranked Top 5 in the nation for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report at its core, City of Hope brings a uniquely integrated model that spans cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and a broad philanthropy program that powers its work. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas. City of Hope’s affiliated group of organizations includes Translational Genomics Research Institute and AccessHopeTM. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
