[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      NATIONAL BONE MARROW PROGRAM GAINS VITAL COMMUNICATION TOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, in 1986 the United States Congress 
authorized the creation of the National Marrow Donor Program to 
facilitate successful transplants of hematopoietic cells from volunteer 
unrelated donors as a form of life saving therapy for people of all 
racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  Today, the National Marrow Donor Program is composed of a nationwide 
network including 114 Donor Centers, 111 Transplant Centers and over 
300 affiliated donor centers across the country. Today, bone marrow 
transplants are increasingly being used to treat a variety of diseases. 
Over 12,000 unrelated transplants were done worldwide in 1995, and the 
number is projected to grow at a rate of 20% a year. Bone marrow 
transplantation is a treatment that has come of age and is responsible 
for saving thousands of lives every year.
  In 1991 Admiral Zumwalt, Jr. created The Marrow Foundation to secure 
support from private sources for the work of the National Marrow Donor 
Program. The Foundation's goals are to help increase the size and 
diversity of the national Registry of donors; to assist people 
undergoing a transplantation financially as they search for a marrow 
match; and to support research to improve the understanding and outcome 
of unrelated marrow transplantation.
  This year information about the important work of The Marrow 
Foundation will be widely disseminated to all health professionals that 
need it, thanks to an educational grant made by Cell Therapeutics, Inc. 
(CTI), a Seattle-based biotechnology company. CTI has provided The 
Marrow Foundation with the grant to publish a quarterly newsletter 
``Team Marrow.'' This newsletter will reach a network of over 300 
affiliated donor centers, recruitment groups, and transplant and 
collection facilities, as well as more than 2,500 corporate, foundation 
and individual contributors who share in the commitment of making 
marrow transplantation accessible to every person who needs it.
  CTI, by virtue of its commitment to cancer research, understands all 
too well the horrendous side effects of a bone marrow transplant. CTI 
is devoted to bringing novel therapies to the market that will minimize 
the infections so frequently experienced by individuals undergoing bone 
marrow transplants. CTI is presently engaged in several clinical trials 
collaborations with various centers across the country.
  Earlier this month, at a celebration of The Marrow Foundation, Dr. 
James Bianco, CTI's founder, presented the educational grant to Admiral 
Zumwalt. Now, every transplant center and affiliated institution will 
have in hand the most current information about the national donor pool 
and what is being done to improve our capacity to match every person in 
need.

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