About Eli Tovbeyn

Who is Eli

Eli Tovbeyn is a 33 year- old man. He emigrated from Moscow to Israel in 1992. He is married and a father of a six year-old child, Natali. They live in Modiin, Israel.
Eli is an expert in computer networking and security. He has worked for Microsoft for the past two years as a Senior Program Manager.

Eli’s Disease
Eli was a healthy man, involved in sports and enjoying his life when he began to suffer from what seemed like an endless bout of flu. In May 2009 he was diagnosed having acute Leukemia – AML M5, including the LFT3 IDT genetic disorder. In less than 48 hours he started a severe regimen of chemotherapy. Since first diagnosed, he has gone through 3 more cycles of chemotherapy, lasting one month each. These days he is in an isolation ward at Sheba hospital in Israel.

Eli’s only chance for survival is to undergo a bone marrow transplant. His doctors queried all the bone marrow registrations worldwide but haven’t found a match. Eli’s best chances to find a match are among people with Russian-Jewish ancestry.

The Campaign
In October 2009 a group of Eli’s friend and other good people who have heard about his case began an endeavor to find a donor. We have managed to enlist about 600 new registrants but this is just a drop in the sea. Our goal is 50,000 new registrants. With the help of warm-hearted Microsoft employees and the Jewish community of Greater Seattle we are expanding the effort to the USA.

It is important to mention that the fruits of this effort would benefit not only Eli but also thousands of other patients around the world who seek a bone marrow donor. All registration databases in Israel and the USA are interlinked to help patients anywhere.

Dr. Julia Volchek, hematologist in Tel Ha Shomer hospital:

Q: Please explain the meaning of the diagnosis Acute Myeloid Leukemia and why Eli Tovbeyn needs bone marrow transplant?

A: Eli is a young man, only 33 years old. His diagnosis is Acute Myeloid Leukemia. It's irreversible transformation of bone marrow with cancerous cells. It can happen when one of the blood-forming cells turns leukemic instead. Once that happens, the cell can reproduce to form many new cancer cells. These cells can take over the bone marrow
completely.

Usually chemotherapy does not bring a long-term result. The cancer returns, and repeated chemotherapy does not give good chances of remission. Doctors divide AML into several risk groups. There are several risk factors, with gene tests of the cells being the most important.

This patient presents genetic changes FLT3. This test shows that the probability of his disease returning is very high, and success chances of subsequent chemoterapy are very low. Patients in this category are usually treated with bone marrow transplant. For Eli the translpant is the only realistic chance of long remission that can possibly last for
many years. That's why it's very important for him to get the transplant now, before the cancer returns. Performing the transplant during subsequent remissions is extremely difficult and the chances for success are very low.