By Jon Gambrell
Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - A Miami University student and her roommate have launched a project they hope will help save lives - starting with her brother's.

Stephen Spriggs, a 1997 graduate of Miami University , has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. After two other bouts with cancer since graduating, he needs a bone marrow transplant.

"This is the last resort," his sister, Amanda Spriggs, a human resource management major at Miami, said. "He's taking chemotherapy in small doses to maintain the mass of his tumor so it doesn't grow, but without the transplant, there's nothing that we can do."

Spriggs, with the help of her roommate Marlo Dowell, a senior architecture major, have organized a bone marrow drive next week to try to help Stephen and others around the country. The Spriggses are from Portsmouth, Ohio. Dowell is from Lincolnshire, Ill.

Dowell, whose father is a cancer survivor, also lost a high school friend to lymphoma.

While the possibility of finding a match in Oxford is remote, Spriggs cautioned the drive wasn't just for her brother, but for anyone in the United States who might need a transplant in the future.

"There are a lot of people looking for matches daily on the registry," Spriggs said. "There is a fee to join, but you have the chance to save someone's life."

The drive will be held from noon until 6 p.m. Wednesday at Miami University's Alumni Hall. Staff from Dayton's Community Blood Center will assist in collecting blood samples to add to the National Marrow Donorship database.

Anyone from 18 to 60 in good health with identification can donate blood to add in the registry. Due to a grant by the CBC, testing will cost $25, compared to the typical $65 per donor

For more information or to donate money, call (513) 664-4552What is Hodgkin's?

Hodgkin's disease accounts for less than 1 percent of all cases of cancer in this country.

Starting in the lymphatic system, cells become abnormal, divide too rapidly and grow without any order or control. Because lymphatic tissue is present in many parts of the body, Hodgkin's disease can start almost anywhere.

Source: National Cancer Institute

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E-mail jgambrell@fuse.net