Marrow donor registry and bone marrow transplantation from unrelated donors in Taiwan: initial experience of the Tzu Chi Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry(TCTMDR)

To evaluate the outcomes of unrelated bone marrow transplantation facilitat ed by TCTMDR, we focused on 48 marrow transplants performed in Taiwan durin g the period May 1994 to June 1997, Follow-up of these 48 cases was made up to 30 May 1998, The average length of follow-up was 328 days (range 7-1385 days), All the donor/recipient pairs were HLA-A, B and DR matched and were divided into two risk groups based on diagnosis and stage of disease. Ther e were 24 standard risk and 24 high risk patients. Engraftment occurred in 40 patients (83.3%). Acute and chronic GVHD was observed in 80% of evaluabl e patients and accounts for 41% of deaths. The second leading cause of deat h was infection, accounting for 35% of deaths, The overall probability of s urvival for the 48 patients after BMT over 2 years was 33.3% (95% CI 19.67- 46.32%). The probability of survival for standard risk and high risk groups was 54% and 8%, respectively, In multivariate analysis, patients who were younger, in the standard risk group, or with a shorter search interval show ed a higher survival probability.