The increase of the global donor inventory is of limited benefit to patients of non-Northwestern European descent
Suzanna M. van Walraven,
Anneke Brand,
Jack N.A. Bakker,
Martin B.A. Heemskerk,
Suzan Nillesen,
Marc B. Bierings,
Laura B. Bungener,
Bouke G. Hepkema,
Arjan Lankester,
Arnold van der Meer,
Kees Sintnicolaas,
Judith A.E. Somers,
Eric Spierings,
Marcel G.J. Tilanus,
Christien E.M. Voorter,
Jan J. Cornelissen,
Machteld Oudshoorn
Affiliations
Suzanna M. van Walraven
Europdonor Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands;Sanquin, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Anneke Brand
Sanquin, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Leiden University Medical Center, Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden
Jack N.A. Bakker
Europdonor Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands
Martin B.A. Heemskerk
Dutch Transplant Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands
Suzan Nillesen
Stem Cell Donor Bank Europdonor Nijmegen, University Medical Center Nijmegen St. Radboud, the Netherlands
Marc B. Bierings
University Medical Center Utrecht / Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Team, Leiden, the Netherlands
Laura B. Bungener
University Medical Center Groningen, Laboratory for Transplant Immunology, Leiden, the Netherlands
Bouke G. Hepkema
University Medical Center Groningen, Laboratory for Transplant Immunology, Leiden, the Netherlands
Arjan Lankester
Leiden University Medical Center, Willem Alexander Kinderziekenhuis, Department for Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation, Leiden, the Netherlands
Arnold van der Meer
Stem Cell Donor Bank Europdonor Nijmegen, University Medical Center Nijmegen St. Radboud, the Netherlands;Radboud University Medical Center, Laboratory Medical Immunology, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Kees Sintnicolaas
Sanquin, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Judith A.E. Somers
Sanquin, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Eric Spierings
University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Immunology, HLA laboratory, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Marcel G.J. Tilanus
University Hospital Maastricht, Transplantation Immunology, Tissue Typing Laboratory, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Christien E.M. Voorter
University Hospital Maastricht, Transplantation Immunology, Tissue Typing Laboratory, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Jan J. Cornelissen
Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Hematology, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Machteld Oudshoorn
Europdonor Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands;Leiden University Medical Center, Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden
Between 2001 and 2012, the number of unrelated donors registered worldwide increased from 7 to 21 million, and the number of public cord blood units increased to over 500,000. We addressed the question of whether this expansion resulted in higher percentages of patients reaching transplantation. Unrelated donor searches were evaluated for 3,124 eligible patients in the Netherlands in two cohorts (2001–2006, n=995; 2007–2012, n=2129), comparing results for patients of Northwestern European and non-Northwestern European origin. Endpoints were ‘donor found’ and ‘transplantation reached’. The substantial growth of the donor inventory over the period studied did not increase the median number of potential unrelated donors (n=7) for non-Northwestern European patients, but almost doubled the number for Northwestern European patients from 42 to 71. Before and after 2007, an unrelated donor or cord blood was identified for 91% and 95%, respectively, of Northwestern European patients and for 65% and 82% of non-Northwestern European patients (P
