1. There are approximately 6,000,000 members in the bone marrow registry at this time. As members reach the age of sixty, they are no longer eligible to donate and they are dropped from the registry.

2. Increasingly bone marrow transplants are being recommended as a treatment for a growing list of diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, certain solid tumors, and various blood disorders. There are now over 70 diseases being treated with transplants.

3. The most important element of a successful bone marrow transplant is the matching of a patient with the perfect donor. On any given day, almost 6000 people are searching for their perfect match. Despite a donor pool of 6,000,000 people, only 25% of potential transplant candidates were able to find their perfect match last year.

4. The chances of finding a perfect match for a patient in need are increased if the patient and donor are of the same ethnicity. Patients of color, including African-American, Latino, Asian, Native-American, Hawaiian and those of mixed heritage are underrepresented in the registry, making their chances to find a suitable match even lower than the 25% overall success rate.

5. Over the past several years the transplant process has improved, yielding more cures, longer survival and fewer complications. As a result, bone marrow transplants are being recommended in more situations and in older age groups then previously. Combined, this underscores the need to dramatically increase the number of people on the registry.

6. Marrow Miracles was started with the goal of increasing enrollment and diversity in Be The Match Registry, the bone marrow registry operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). The NMDP has been saving patients’ lives for over 20 years by searching its registry to find the perfect bone marrow match. By increasing enrollment and diversity in Be The Match Registry, we hope to further facilitate bone marrow matches and make “marrow miracles” happen.

All of your questions can be answered either in person at a marrow drive or by using the comprehensive web site content of the Be the Match Foundation. Below are some of the most commonly used links to provide these answers.

http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/FAQs_about_Joining_the_Registry/index.html
http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Recruit_Donors/index.html