Hello doctor, I was accustomed to donating platelets in the blood bank. Recently, I received a letter stating I am no longer eligible to donate platelets anymore. I can donate whole blood and double red cells only. They said the reason is that I have white blood cell antibodies which can occur in response to pregnancy. The issue is I am a male. If I recall correctly from my biology class, males do not get pregnant which leads me to think this is something else. I tried asking them more details but they were vague, or maybe uninformed as to why these antibodies seen in male, when they themselves said it was often seen in pregnant women. Internet searches prove fruitless. I cannot be the only male that ran into this. The only other thing I can think of is possibly cancer only because I remember reading somewhere that if a man were to do a instant pregnancy test and it is positive, it is an indication of maybe being cancerous. I do not know, some insight into this is appreciated. I am currently taking Levocetirizine and Atarax when needed.
Hi. Based on your query, my opinion is as follows: I can assure you that there is no cancer or even suspicion of that. Any patient with suspected cancer or with cancer, unless completely cured, will not be asked to donate any component. You are still eligible to donate whole and double red cells, which is good. There are numerous conditions, like viral infections, which can lead to a condition called as autoimmune disease or autoantibodies maye without symptoms of autoimmune disease. Maybe secondary to an infection, you might be having antibodies, against WBC (white blood corpuscles) or platelets. You are asked not to donate WBC or platelets because there is an antibody, which could damage the recipient WBC or platelets, which can reduce the efficacy of the donation and complicate management. Your blood test is not attached, however, I think it will be normal. If you are looking for any antibodies, they are numerous. Common ones like rheumatoid factor, anti-DNA antibody, and anti-phospholipid antibody may have been screened. If the type of antibody is known, further opinion will be possible. I hope this helps. Suspected viral infection. Specific antibody screening. Antibodies cannot be removed as it is always forming. So not to worry and go on with the donation of other components. No cancer, I can assure you.