Normally, patients in need of transplants have a 75 percent chance of finding a match, but for minorities this number drops dramatically. Minorities needing organ or marrow transplants often must wait twice as long as whites. It is not uncommon to see widely publicized donor searches in the local news, but their chance of success is unpredictable. The black community, with only 216,000 of the registered donors, faces the greatest difficulties finding donor matches. The NBMDR is working relentlessly to increase the size of the national bone marrow donor registry, and these efforts must continue, especially for minority groups.
Since NBMDP's inception in 1986, more than 18,000 bone marrow transplants have been performed. The procedure gives a 40 to 60 percent chance of survival to patients suffering from leukemia and 60 other formerly fatal diseases. Marrow recipients are first given chemotherapy to kill their own diseased marrow, and shortly thereafter, doctors give patients new marrow from a donor. Donors have the potential to save patients, but before signing up for the registry, they should consider the ramifications - marrow donation is a painful procedure.
If a registered donor is matched with a recipient, they are contacted and urged to donate, unless they are gravely ill or face other extenuating circumstances. The procedure requires a three-day hospital stay, and up to a week of recovery time. Doctors usually anesthetize donors and extract 5 percent of their marrow, from the rear of their pelvic bone. But no permanent harm is done - the marrow regenerates within a short period of time, and the operation involves minimal risk. While this is a difficult operation, potential donors should remember to put it in perspective - a week of discomfort can give a recipient many years of life.
It is not clear why minorities are underrepresented among registered bone marrow donors. Perhaps there are certain religious or cultural considerations - but it is more likely that there has been insufficient outreach into minority communities. NBMDP has taken stock of these problems, and is increasing efforts to put more minorities on its donor roles.
Normally, it costs individuals $45 to join the marrow registry, but at next week's campus-wide bone marrow drive, registration will be free. Interested individuals can register from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday at the Michigan Union, Tuesday at the Medical Center and Wednesday at Pierpont Commons on North Campus. Minorities should strongly consider registering; thousands of lives hang in the balance.