Bone marrow transplants to treat cancers of the blood are performed less on women and African Americans. This was the recent analysis from Cancer which is published in The American Cancer Society. There seems to be a difference in how access to bone marrow transplants for these particular groups. More research needs to be done before determining why the discrepancy. The study was conducted by Dr. Mary Horrowitz and Dr. Douglass Rizzo. Both Doctors belong to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry from Wisconsin’s Medical College in Milwaukee.
Another member involved with the study is Thomas Joshua from the medical college in Augusta Georgia. So looking at the cost factors and lengthy hospital stay and post treatment, Bone Marrow Transplants or (HCT) are extremely costly and a patient would need to be hospitalized for a prolonged period of time and would require an intensive follow-up care. There are at least 60,000 of these procedures a year. This is quite an increase from previous years. Well HCT can be beneficial in regards to treating cancers of the blood, however many patients experience complications and possibly death due to the evasive treatment regime.
We know from history that Minorities, especially black Americans have an innate fear of major procedures. The study does not really explain why access is a problem for these groups. It does pose the question to the healthcare industry, that getting easier access to every patient. All the information on the population census derives from a 1997 and 2000 study conducted by The Center for International Blood and bone Marrow Transplants b The studies indicate that HCT is used to treat white patients over Black patients for conditions like Leukemia or Lymphoma Donor availability has been ruled as the main reason as African Americans have lower rates of HCT, using cells from other donors or their own. Men than women receive HCT at a higher rate using their own bone marrow cells. More studies have to be conducted which encompasses cultural, biological, and social aspects of perspective Bone marrow patients patient
