Bone marrow is the tissue in the core of the body's flat bones. It continually produces red and white blood cells and platelets. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. White blood cells fight disease. Platelets enable blood to clot and stop bleeding.

A bone marrow transplant may be necessary when there is a breakdown in a person's bone marrow that impedes or prevents the production of blood cells. Since the function of blood cells within the body is so important, any breakdown in their production can be life-threatening.

A bone marrow transplant is used as a treatment for many different serious diseases. Cancers that affect the blood such as leukemia and lymphoma are sometimes treated with a bone marrow transplant. Transplantation may also be required for the treatment of blood diseases such as aplastic anemia.

Some diseases treatable by bone marrow transplant

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Acute myelogenous leukemia
Aplastic anemia
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
Fanconi's anemia
Hodgkin's disease
Hunter's syndrome
Hurler's syndrome
Lysosomal storage disease
Multiple myeloma
Myelodysplasia
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Osteopetrosis
Severe combined immune deficiency
Thalassemia
Wiskott Aldrich syndrome
Some other forms of cancer
Some autoimmune disorders

Matching a bone marrow donor to a patient in need of a transplant is a very exacting and complicated process. A test called the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) test classifies people by special markers located on their white blood cells. This test is used to match donors and recipients. If a patient has an identical twin, an exact match is almost certain. There is a 25 percent chance that a match exists between a patient and one of the patient's siblings. However, this does not mean that of every four siblings, one will have bone marrow matching the patient. The chance of finding a match from the general population is, at best, one in 10,000.

Because a person inherits the genetic traits that determine a compatible match (in much the same way as one inherits eye, skin or hair color), it is most likely that a patient will find a donor within his or her own racial or ethnic group. In other words, it is most likely that an African American patient will find a donor among African Americas, an Asian American among Asian Americans, Hispanics among Hispanics, Native Americans among Native Americans, and Americans of European origin among others of European origin.

Bone marrow donor registries in the United States and throughout the world list hundreds of thousands of potential bone marrow donors. The greater the number of potential donors, the better the chance will be of finding a match for a patient. The national programs in the United States are the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry and the National Marrow Donor Program.

Copyright 2000-2004. My Friends Care Bone Marrow Transplant Fund.
148 S. Main Street, Mount Clemens, Michigan 48043