UK's first stem cell collection centre dedicated to transplants opens to donors
Nottingham centre aims to add about 1,300 donation slots a year and tackle a long-standing global shortage of cell collection facilities
The UK's first stem cell collection centre strictly dedicated to transplants has begun welcoming donors at the Anthony Nolan Cell Collection Centre, based at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre. The centre, run by the Anthony Nolan charity in partnership with the NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility, is designed to boost the pool of potential donors and speed the delivery of life-saving cells to NHS patients across the country.
Officials said the centre will create about 1,300 donation slots a year, addressing a longstanding global shortage of cell collection facilities. Jordan, from London, was among the first donors to sign up and undergo collection. He said he was proud to donate and that today he could save someone’s life. "It is such an easy thing to do to help someone else," he added, noting that needles aren’t his favorite but that he would do anything to help another person.
Anthony Nolan has more than 900,000 people on its donor register. Yet a combination of capacity limits and demand has historically constrained on-time collections. The charity notes that in 2022-23, only about a fifth of donors on the UK registry were able to donate on the date requested by a patient’s medical team due to capacity issues. Increasing the ability to collect cells when doctors need them can meaningfully affect patient outcomes, the charity has said.
The centre will be run by Anthony Nolan in partnership with NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility. Nicola Alderson, the charity’s chief operating officer, described stem cell donation as straightforward. "You are put on to a machine that has a needle in both arms. The blood goes through the machine which takes out the stem cells and puts the rest of the blood back through." The process typically takes about five hours, and once the cells are collected they are usually transplanted into the recipient within 72 hours. Alderson said the new facility could help ensure on-time collections when the clinical teams request them and that the centre should be a "game-changer" for patients.
The Anthony Nolan charity coordinates transplants for the NHS, delivering cells to hospitals across the UK and occasionally sending cells abroad. It currently coordinates more than 1,000 UK transplants each year and sends cells to around 300 additional patients overseas. Alderson acknowledged that the charity had sometimes struggled to meet demand in the past and emphasized that the Nottingham site would improve the timeliness of collections. She noted that prior to the centre, it was only five in 10 times that a collection could be matched to the doctor’s requested timing.
The centre has partial funding from Omaze, which partnered with Anthony Nolan and raised about £3.7 million through a house prize draw in June. The donation is expected to sustain the centre’s operations for about 18 months. Kathryn Fairbrother, director of clinical operations for research and innovation at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said the collaboration would also enable research that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. One planned project involves using stem cells to treat liver disease.
Raj, a 32-year-old University of Liverpool student who received a stem cell transplant in Leicester in 2020 after a diagnosis of a rare blood cancer called myelofibrosis, described the experience of transplantation and recovery. His cells came from an anonymous donor in Germany. He recalled the long recovery period and said the Nottingham development is a welcome improvement for patients who need timely access to cells. "Being able to be more efficient collecting and delivering stem cells to patients who don't have time to wait is fantastic," he said. Five years after his transplant, Raj remains in remission and encouraged more people to sign up as donors when possible.
Donors who want to register should be aged 16 to 30 and can remain on the donor register until age 61. A cheek swab is all that is needed to begin the process, after which patients are matched with potential donors. The centre’s operation is expected to strengthen the NHS’s transplant pipeline and potentially save more lives by reducing delays in obtaining stem cells when they are most needed. As the centre begins its work, Anthony Nolan emphasized that every donor's contribution represents a potential lifeline for someone facing a life-threatening condition.
