Cancer patient needs bone marrow transplant so group plans screening to find a donor Posted On: Thursday, Feb. 26 2009 04:51 AM By Iuliana Petre
Killeen Daily Herald

Fifty-one-year-old Sam Kanouse – a former U.S. Army sergeant major and owner and chairman of the Killeen-based consulting firm MTCI – is holding on for dear life.

Currently in a non-remissive status and undergoing a second round of aggressive chemotherapy treatment, Kanouse's only hope is that a willing, like-tissue, bone marrow donor will be discovered soon.

Diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood that attcked him pretty quickly last June, Kanouse underwent chemotherapy for three months but relapsed in January.

"He now needs to find a bone marrow match to save his life," said Kanouse's daughter, Domonique Basler. "Because tissue types are inherited, he will most likely find a match from someone of his own race and ethnicity," Basler said, adding that her father is Korean. "He has no brothers or sisters and his children are not a match for him. We are seeking the generosity of the Killeen community to help find him his miracle match. The story behind all of this is there simply aren't enough registered minority donors on the registry."

Kanouse's situation is a desperate one because minorities are terribly underrepresented in the marrow registry.

"It's a better match when you're of the same ethnic and racial background, it's not as simple as blood type unfortunately," Basler said.

To help find a match for her father, Basler has teamed up with the Killeen Heights Rotary and the

Scott & White marrow donor program to host the "Team Sam" Bone Marrow Drive on March 7 at the Shilo Inn in Killeen.

Basler hopes that the marrow drive will target the minority community, not just for her father's sake, but because "we want to increase the registry as a whole," she said.

"We will have the ability to test anybody who shows up on that day," said Debbie Mabry, the manager of the Scott & White marrow donor program. "But the odds of finding an exact match are not high. It all depends on a person's tissue type. This is a cure only about half the time. (Kanouse's) odds now are almost nothing."

"The sad fact is, today only three out of 10 patients receive the transplant that can save their life. That is a number I can't live with," Basler said.

The test on March 7 will not be painful, Mabry said. There are no needles involved, just a simple swab of the inside of a cheek, and it will take only about 10 minutes to register.

For those people who are identified as potential donors, someone from the bone marrow donor program will call to determine if the individual is available for follow-up blood work. The third stage involves a peripheral blood stem cell collection or a bone marrow extraction from the hip bone.

Because chemotherapy cannot differentiate between good and bad cells, it is attacking all of the new cells in Kanouse's body and he is susceptible to infection. Isolation is the best way to keep him from getting a chronic cold. Kanouse is currently staying at the Rotary House International in Houston while he undergoes treatment, Basler said.

Time is of the essence.

"This bone marrow drive will immediately support (Kanouse) and others in need of a transplant," said Tim Stroud, the member services sector chair for the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce.

"This is my father's only hope," Basler said.

Contact Iuliana Petre at ipetre@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7469.