About 80 percent of those will find a match. While those odds are greater than when the registry was established in the late 1970s, a growing need remains for potential volunteer donors, especially within the minority communities, says Linda Dorton, donor center manager for the National Marrow Donor Program at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. Characteristics of bone marrow are inherited, Dorton explains, making the most likely match for a transplant recipient one of his or her own ethnic group.
Bone marrow is a substance found in the cavities of the body's bones.
It resembles blood and contains stem cells, which produce red cells, white cells and other blood components. For many illnesses, such as anemia, lymphomas and a number of other life-threatening blood diseases, bone marrow transplants are not only a treatment, but also are the only real chance for a cure. Patients who have these illnesses often turn to a relative first to seek a match. Those who do not have a match within the family turn to an unrelated marrow donor. Donors range in age from 18-60 and must be in good health.