Is race a risk factor for allogeneic marrow transplantation?

We investigated the influence of race as a risk factor for the outcome of HLA-identical marrow transplantation. The actuarial survival at 2 years after grafting of Blacks, Hispanics and Asians was compared with that of Caucasians transplanted between 1971 and 1985 for aplastic anaemia, acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Among patients with aplastic anaemia, there was no difference with regard to engraftment or actuarial survival among different racial groups. Among patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia, Blacks had a lower survival (P = 0.03) than other groups, although there was no obvious single factor accounting for this difference. In patients with acute lymphocytic leukaemia, survival was comparable among the different races. Acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease appeared to occur with similar frequencies in all groups, except for a slightly higher incidence among Blacks with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia. Larger numbers of patients need to be examined before firm conclusions can be drawn.