Friday, January 2, 2004
“How to Give
By Drs. Pablo Rubinstein & Cladd Stevens
Thousands of patients affected each year by leukemia,
lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other lethal diseases who require bone marrow
transplants do not have suitable donors in their own family or cannot find one
among the millions of volunteer marrow donors. New legislation inspired by
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate will enable 80% to 90%
of patients needing a transplant to find a suitable match through a National
Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank network. The network would bring to fruition more
than a decade of research that began at the
Nearly 1,500 gravely ill patients have been given a chance for survival thanks to the 22,000 mothers who donated their babies’ cord blood after their births to the center’s National Cord Blood Program. The cord blood provides an alternative source of stem cells for bone marrow donation and can equalize the opportunity for people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Only 25% of patients seeking bone marrow from an unrelated donor succeed each year, according to a 2002 General Accounting Office report. The statistics are even grimmer for members of ethnic minority groups. Bone marrow transplants must be a perfect match. Since the probability of finding a matching marrow donor is highest within the same ethnic group, minority groups, numerically, have fewer potential donors. The GAO report concluded that achieving equal access to bone marrow stem cells might not be possible.
Cord blood, however, may be the solution. Cord blood
transplants work even if they are not completely matched to the patient. And it
is relatively easy to reach an appropriate balance by harvesting cord blood
donations from hospitals serving minority patients. Of
We applaud Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and his Senate co-sponsors, Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for introducing the legislation. It is a bold combination of the practical, the necessary and the possible.
Rubinstein & Stevens direct the National Cord Blood
Program at the