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Good Morning America host Robin Roberts knows how it feels to lose the lottery twice, then sort of win it. So does everyone in my family.

Here’s how she lost twice: Roberts was diagnosed with pre-leukemia secondary to breast cancer, which means the treatment for her first illness caused the second. My treasured sister-in-law Theresa ended up with real leukemia as a consequence of all the chemo and radiation she endured (along with her lumpectomy). About one in eight women contract breast cancer, and of that group a much smaller percentage get sick again.

Here’s how they won: both have siblings who were perfect matches for their necessary bone marrow transplants. Roberts, who has now passed the critical 100-day mark after her transplant, was especially lucky. Siblings have only a 30% chance of matching, and her sister did. For Theresa, one of her brothers matched.

If they hadn’t been able to find matches in their families, and had to go to the bone marrow registries, their odds would’ve quickly separated along color lines. The best chance of finding a genetic match lies with those of a similar racial or ethnic background. Theresa is white, and so are about 70% of the potential donors now registered. Roberts would be looking at the smaller piece of the pie: just 30% of listed donors are members of ethnic minorities – and that is the sum total of African Americans (7%), Asians (7%), Hispanics (10%) and others of Native American, Pacific Islander, and multiple races.

Here’s another way to look at it: Theresa would have a better than 90% chance of finding a registry match. Roberts’ odds: about half that. Instead of wishing her a speedy recovery, ABC-TV would likely be hosting bone marrow drives around the country in hopes of finding a match for their morning anchor. Her doctors would also be searching the registries for an umbilical cord blood match — often the route for ethnic minorities unable to find a suitable bone marrow donor. READ MORE

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