Each year, thousands of people with different forms of cancer turn to the National Bone Marrow Registry for transplants, but many minority patients face long odds.

Seven million people are listed on the registry, but a very small percentage of them are from minorities. And doctors say that's unfortunate, because ethnic background is key when trying to find a marrow match.

It's Denise Bertholin's wedding day, but instead of getting married in the mountains as she planned, she took her vows in a hospital chapel. Three weeks before her wedding, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia.

"I just started crying and my fiance came in and just hugged me," Bertholin recalled.

For Denise, chemotherapy wasn't effective. Her doctor, Douglas Smith, said she needed a bone marrow transplant.

"For patients who have leukemias that can't be cured with traditional chemotherapy, we look for allogeneic bone marrow transplants in order to try to give them the best treatment to keep their disease away forever," Dr. Smith said.

Allogeneic stem cells are taken from a matched donor, preferably a family member. In Denise's case, her family didn't provide a perfect match. Her next step was to join the National Bone Marrow Registry.

But Denise faced another problem: she's Latina. And according to registry CEO Dr. Jeffery Chell, only 9 percent of people on the registry are Hispanic.

"The number one reason people don't join the registry is because they don't know about it," Dr. Chell said.

For now, Denise waits in hopes that more people of Hispanic origin will register, so she can renew her vows in a wedding she's always dreamed of.

For more information on joining the registry, go to www.marrow.org.  

Joining the registry involves taking a simple swab of the inside of your cheek to determine your tissue type.

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