REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD 2004

(August, 2005)

The Unrelated Bone Marrow Mexican Registry-DONORMO, had  5,100 donors (Aug, 2005) who have volunteerly registered. Any of them, may be able to donate cells to a patient in need of a BMT.  The Altruist Umbilical Cord  Blood Bank -BACECU , hosts  63 units donated by mothers (Sept, 2005). DONORMO has received during the last two years an average of 60 applications for donors  search for around 200  Mexican and international patients.

If a compatible donor is not found at DONORMO or BACECU, we search for an HLA match at BMDW.  We are members of BMDW since 1999. This Organization keeps the data bases with genetic characteristics of 9,176,405 donors (May, 2004) from the 54 countries in the world including DONORMO and the 167828 units of placental blood (umbilical cord) including those at BACECU.

The Registeries of NMDP Germany and United Kingdom, are the largest with 350,000 to 5 million donors subscribed.  France, Japan, Israel, Italy, and Canada follow with 100,000 to 300,000 donors and Mexico along with India, and Ciprus with less than 25,000 donors. (BMDW, 2004)

Mexico has only 0.03 donors/10,000 inhabitants, while Australia for example, has 83/ 10,000. This makes it urgent to search for altruism within the Mexican society, characterized by good will.  We require your support too be able to offer an opportunity of life to many patients in dire need us to survive.

When a potential donor is found for a Mexican or an international patient who needs a bone marrow transplant. We need to verify their availability, laboratory studies  to guaranty HLA compatibility and general lab and clinical tests (active search) are done to assure their good health condition.  A different process is done to find CBU for patients.  Thirthy five transplants for Mexican children have been practiced.  Thirty three of these units came from the New York Placental Blood Program and two from BACECU.One of them was donated by us for a one old year child with no financial resources.

Four Mexican patients have received a BMT  from a DONORMOdonor , three in Mexico , and the other one in the United States; the active search from one international donor of a European Registry  was done for a Mexican patient who received her transplant in the United States.

Dr. Clara Gorodezky.
President of the Board

We have sent units of HSC from compatible siblings for two Mexican patients living in the US and we have contributed to bone marrow transplantation for six patients using a parent with a minimal HLA difference, determined by advanced DNA techniques.

Mexico receives units from foreign Registries and courriers from different International Registries came to Mexico and either delivered  or took back  units personally overseas.

To find an HLA compatible donor,  the first option is an identical sibling.  If no identical sib is found, then the parents need to be checked..  If this fails, the probability of finding the miraculous donor is possible by searching among the donors registered in the Worldwide Registries. The greatest probability lie within the same ethnic group  to the one of the patient.  DONORMO/BACECU have 98% donors with Mexican mestizo background .  If the patient is Mexican Mestizo, he/she would have a greater chance of finding a donor at the DONORMO/BACECU than in any other registry. This is due to the fact that out of the 54 registries in 41 countries and 33 placental blood banks in 21 countries including BACECU, ours is the one which includes the largest number of Mexican-Mestizo donors. (figure 3)

The majority of our transplants have taken place with  placental blood units of foreign banks.  This is due to two crucial factors.

1) The small  size of DONORMO/BACECU (Figure 4). We would need  minimum 100,000 donors to cover 70 % of the patients (HLA matches at low resolution level).

2) The extraordinary genetical diversity. Therefore, the more donors joined in every registry, the greater the possibility is to offer a patient a donor from the same ethnical background

It is clear that the vast majority of donors are Caucasian .  Worldwide research has shown that Caucasian patients have a  90 % probability of finding a compatible donor, while a Mexican patient only has a 10% chance.  If the patient belongs to a poorly represented ethnic group in the Registries or to that where genetic diversity is unique , the probability of  finding a donor is minimal .  It is also important to point out that Mexico occupies the fourth place in Registries  with HLA unique  genes included at BMDW, after Russia, South Africa , and  Greece.  (figure 5)

Report May 2004- Sept 2005

During the past twelve months we have felt the benefit of a fructiferous harvest, resulting from the perseverant and enormous efforts accomplished by our volunteers, associates, friends, administration, technical, medical and scientific personnel, who are part of  the Fundacion Comparte Vida.

The response of our altruistic donors, when asked for actual marrow or blood donation has been very enthusiastic and positive.  During this period three donors gave their cells to different patients. We have now registered 5,100  donors at DONORMO, 64 umbilical cord  blood units donated to BACECU and we had the opportunity to offer a unit to a little girl who had no related compatible donor and  whose family had no financial resources 

We announce with pride the agreement signed on May 2005 by National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) in USA,  and DONORMO as Cooperative Centres, to facilitate the exchange of donors and to be able to successfully transplant the many patients who need them in Mexico and in the United States.  We would also like to inform that we got re-accreditations from ASHI and COFEPRIS as an Excellency Centre, for the Department of Immunology & Immunogenetics, InDRE where the technical work of BACECU/DONORMO takes place.

We extend our most sincere gratitude to the many people, groups, corporations, institutions, public and private organizations nation-wide and beyond our frontiers, who have been and are collaborating with us. Among them our Donor Centre in Monterrey, under the direction of  Flora Piña and the Donor Centre of the Aguascalientes Autonomous University, directed by  Rebecca Ceballos. The first one worked extremely hard during 2005, since they organized two strong recruitment drives, the first one promoted by  Jorge Guerra and his family and the second one sponsored by Gamesa SA de CV.  Both wee successful, since about 400 new donors enrolled in the Program.  The Centre in Aguascalientes registered over 150 donors. The Sabritas recruitment drive in Mexico City was also very valuable, because over 100 donors registered. We thank sincerely the financial support of these companies since they took care of everything needed until registration was completed, including the DNA data input in DONORMO.

We are deeply indebted to all our sponsors who in different ways have helped us: the communication media, written press, internet, radio, and television who have so kindly opened their doors to us, to the many people and patients who provided working equipment and to the students at the Universidad del Valle de Mexico, Lomas Verdes. We have not enough words to thank Internet Grafico, to whom we owe the Foundations’ Web Page; to the Secretaria de Gobernacion, Fundacion Azteca, the Salon de la Plastica Mexicana, INBA and the 35 artists who donated their valuable paintings; to Uniparts, who have given us a working space and administrative support, and to all the people and companies who are listed, at the end of this report.  To the awardees of the “Professor Jean Dausset Award, Nobel Prize of Medicine and Physiology 1980”,  for their constant and unflagging help; To Dr. Carlos Perez Moreno, to The Club Contreras  through Drs. Rodolfo Jimenez an Raymundo Hernandez and  to Schering-Plough SA de CV.

With love and respect, to our patients, donors, mothers who donated umbilical cord  blood units,  to our wonderful team of collaborators, to the members of the Technical Committee and the new one created in 2005, the group of psychological support for patients, their families and the donors. To all the Transplant Centres who have been collaborating with us. Many thanks for trusting and supporting us.  Without all this support, it would have been impossible to accomplish what we  have accomplished!