"The data confirms that physicians working with patients who are fighting a blood cancer should consider unrelated transplantation as a standard therapy," continued Dr. Majhail. "Multiple factors have likely contributed to this dramatic improvement in survival, including advances in HLA tissue typing, better supportive care, less intensive conditioning regimens, new medications to treat post-transplant complication and a growing, diverse registry of volunteer bone marrow donors."

"The transplantation community has gained enormous knowledge over the past decade, evidenced by the significant improvements in patient survival," said Dr. Jeffrey W. Chell, chief executive officer of the NMDP. "Unrelated blood stem cell transplantation is no longer a last resort for patients battling life-threatening blood cancers."

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) is the global leader in providing marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants to patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other diseases. The nonprofit organization matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research so more lives can be saved.