Bone marrow transplants have become routine in the West for blood cancers, such as leukemia, and similar diseases.But experts say theres no reason why the therapy should not be available in the developing world.There is need, but a shortage of resources, donors and expertise.

More than one million bone marrow transplants have been performed in 75 countries since the first one was performed in the U.S. 50 years ago.

Thats not very many for a treatment that can be lifesaving, according to Dietger Niederwieser, a professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

We have situations where we have an identical [bone marrow] donor, and we have a disease which if treated early, the survival can go up to 90-95 percent even.So, its depending on the disease, its depending on the donor and its depending also on the age of the patients and so on," said Niederwieser.

Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are produced in the marrow, or spongy tissue inside bones, by stem or master cells.

Transplants either from a closely-matched donor or using cleansed marrow from the patients themselves are a way of replacing tissue thats diseased by leukemia, a blood cancer, and lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

For some patients, it is a last ditch effort at a cure.

Analyzing data collected by the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Niederwieser and colleagues looked at the distribution of these transplants around the world.

Predictably, their study found that the bulk of the complex transplants have been performed in Europe, followed by the United States.

The remaining 15 percent or so have been carried out in South East Asia, the Mediterranean, Western Pacific and Africa.

Originally posted here:
Bone Marrow Transplants Scarce in Many Countries

Comments are closed.