Bone marrow transplantation is a transfusion of marrow, harvested from a healthy donor, to a patient. For the transfusion to work, the donor and recipient’s bone marrow must be genetically matched as closely as possible.
Because tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to find a match within their own racial or ethnic group. Unfortunately, only 30% of all patients in need of a transplant are able to find a matching donor from within their own families. The remaining 70% must search the NMDP Registry of marrow donors. Minorities currently represent less than one-fourth of the total volunteer donors on the NMDP Registry and are far less likely to find potentially matched donors than Caucasians.
Over the past two decades, bone marrow transplantation has evolved into a well-established treatment option for patients. In 1977 only 169 patients had received bone marrow transplants worldwide. Approximately 2,000 patients now receive transplants annually at 300 centers around the world.
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