Racial and ethnic composition of volunteer cord blood donors: comparison with volunteer unrelated marrow donors

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord blood is an alternative peripheral blood progenitor cell source for patients who need transplantation. A presumed advantage of cord blood is the ability to increase minority recruitment. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The racial composition of five member cord blood banks of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) was compared, representing 9020 cord blood donors with NMDP marrow donors from comparable geographic areas, representing 417,676 donors. Cord blood and marrow donors self-reported racial designations on questionnaires. Donor statistics were compared with baseline racial data of deliveries from participating hospitals for cord blood donors and with geographic census data for marrow donors. RESULTS: The California, Florida, and Massachusetts cord blood banks recruited a lower percentage of minorities than the corresponding marrow donor centers. In New York and Colorado, minority recruitment was equivalent. In California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York, the cord blood banks recruited a lower percentage of minorities than those delivering at the respective hospitals. The cord blood banks in California, Colorado, Florida, and Massachusetts recruited a lower percentage of minorities compared with delivery data than the corresponding marrow donor centers compared with census population (p < 0.001). In New York, the percentages were similar. CONCLUSION: The problem of insufficient minority recruitment of cord blood has not yet been solved. Better strategies are needed to recruit minority donors.