Unrelated bone marrow transplantation in Canada, the national experience.

The Canadian Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry (UBMDR) of the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS) Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) was officially funded as of April 1, 1989 for an initial three year period with a mandate to recruit 50,000 unrelated bone marrow donors and conduct the search activities for unrelated bone marrow donors worldwide on behalf of Canadian patients (1). All provinces of Canada agreed to fund the Registry and it was unanimously adopted to locate the Canadian National Coordinating Centre (CNCC) of the Registry in Vancouver. Since February of 1988, 64 unrelated bone marrow transplants have been carried out in Canada. Over half of the unrelated donors have come from other countries. Canada has established working relationships with the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Recruitment of unrelated bone marrow donors is now established in twelve Canadian cities with more to follow. It is anticipated that the size of the registries world wide will continue to increase, that their ethnic makeup will become diversified and that the indications for unrelated bone marrow transplantation will broaden in the years to come.