Chen Yao-chang, a physician at National Taiwan University Hospital's Department of Laboratory Medicine, says that some patients in the early stages of a disease do not want to risk a failed transplant, and decide to wait until the illness becomes critical before accepting a marrow donation. Other patients only find a suitable marrow match after long years of searching, with their condition deteriorating.
台大檢驗醫學部醫師陳耀昌也指出，部份早期情況良好的病患不願冒可能移植失敗的風險，等到病況危急時，才接受骨髓移植；有些病人在苦苦尋找多年後，病況日益嚴重時，才找到捐贈對象。