Only one in four leukemia patients finds a bone marrow match, but for patients of color the success rate is even lower. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) reports that minorities are vastly under-represented in the national registry of available donors: Caucasians account for 68 percent, African Americans and Hispanics and 10 percent each Asians represent 8 percent; and American Indians represent percent. People of color are more likely to match with a donor of the same ethnicity.
To address this issue, Daryl McDaniels a.k.a. “DMC” from rap group Run DMC, has become the spokesperson for a new campaign geared toward motivating minorities to donate their marrow. It is sponsored by Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei’s (DKMS), an organization that finds donor matches for people living with blood disorders that require bone marrow transplants for treatment.
