Blood Stem Cell / Marrow Statistics
- New York Blood Center's marrow registry program serves as a regional arm of the National Marrow Donor Program, which has enrolled almost 10 million potential donors nationwide.
- New York Blood Center has registered over 230,000 potential blood stem cell/marrow donors since its bone marrow registry program began in 1989.
- Over 1000 of those registered by New York Blood Center have become blood stem cell donors.
- New York Blood Center's single largest registry group is from the Fire Department of New York. Over 8,000 firefighters are registered and more than 130 have been donors - and some have been donors twice and one has donated three times to three different patients.
- About 50% of all potential donors registered by New York Blood Center are from diverse ethnic backgrounds. But in general more diverse donors need to enroll in volunteer registries so those searching have the best chance to find a match.
- Each day thousands of patients worldwide with leukemia, aplastic anemia or other fatal blood diseases are searching for a life-saving match.
- New York Blood Center receives over 10-15 new requests a day for potential donors to undergo additional testing in hopes of providing a perfect transplant match.
- Caucasians in need of a stem cell/marrow transplant have as much as an 80% chance of finding a match through donor registries, but for minorities the percentage drops dramatically.
- Half of all New York Blood Center marrow drives are held in conjunction with community blood drives.
- The ideal donor is between the ages of 25 to 40 and male. However, potential bone marrow donors can be between the ages of 18 to 60, male or female. Testing will determine if someone is healthy enough to be a bone marrow donor and also verify if a qualified match exists between donor and patient.
- Two types of donations can be needed - bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. Each can work to save someone's life. New York Blood Center's collection sites for bone marrow include Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, New York Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Hackensack Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Stony Brook University Hospital and Westchester Medical Center. Peripheral blood stem cells are collected at New York Blood Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, New York Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Hackensack Medical Center, Stony Brook University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson hospital.
- Sometimes bone marrow recipients and their donors can meet after one year if both parties agree. Until then, they can usually communicate anonymously if both choose to.
