East China's Anhui Province has begun preparing for the establishment of a local branch of the China Databank of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donators, or the China Bone Marrow Bank along with several related laboratories.
Bone marrow transplants have proven to be effective in the treatment of leukemia, severe aplastic anemia, immunological deficiency syndrome and other hematopoietic and immune system diseases.
However, bone marrow can be transplanted only when the donor's human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a kind of antigen pertaining to the white blood cells, matches that of the recipient.
This only occurs in about 25% of brothers and sisters, and a person could find a match from among 400 to 10,000 non-family members, said experts.
Currently, more than 4 million patients on the Chinese mainland are waiting for hematopoietic stem cell transplants. Every year, the number of leukemia patients increases by more than 40,000.
However, registered stem cell donors number less than 60,000 nationwide, leaving bone marrow stocks in very short supply.
The bone marrow bank in China has collected 50,000 samples to date and located donors for 70 leukemia patients last year.
In a related development, a local organs donation center has registered 109 donors since its establishment one year ago.
Anhui plans to set up two similar centers this year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2003)
