Two-year-old Alana Dung beat 20,000-1 odds to find a matching bone marrow donor. Family photo

It was the message the Dung family and an entire state had been hoping for since 2-year-old Alana Dung was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia April 5.

"I think a miracle has happened," said Adelia Dung, Alana's mother, yesterday.

But her excitement is tempered with caution. Stephen and Adelia Dung know that Alana and the donor (whose name is being kept confidential in compliance with national donor registry policy) must both pass physical examinations and Alana must undergo an extensive pretransplant workup. And complications can arise.

The transplant is tentatively scheduled for the end of June.

"We are cognizant that this is just the first step toward the solution to all of our problems," Adelia Dung said. "(But) when I first heard, I just had this Adrenalin rush."

After a massive statewide search that resulted in the screening of 30,000 potential bone marrow donors here, the Dungs got word last week that a potential marrow match for Alana had been found in Taiwan. It was confirmed yesterday.

Alana will leave early next month for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle to begin preparing for the procedure.

Before receiving healthy marrow from the donor, Alana's diseased marrow will be destroyed with high-dose chemotherapy or total body irradiation, according to the Hutchinson Center.

Then, healthy bone marrow will be drawn from the donor in Taiwan, rushed to Seattle, and given to Alana intravenously through a catheter implanted in her chest, said family spokeswoman Kalowena Komeiji.

Meanwhile, Stephen said Alana is "still healthy and running strong. But her immune system is at zero."

Sporting a button that read "Expect A Miracle," Adelia Dung told reporters that Alana is holding up well through the ordeal.

"While it's tough because she's so young, she doesn't have the psychological problems an older child might have," she said. " ’xxx We get our courage from her. We look at her and say, how can you be sad about this?"

In finding the donor match, Alana beat one-in-20,000 odds. Her acute myeloid type M7 leukemia is an aggressive strain that usually afflicts adults.

About 14 percent of those searching for an unrelated donor end up finding a match, said a Hutchinson Center spokesman.

While the ultimate donor didn't come from Hawaii, the flood of potential donors here will make a difference worldwide, Adelia said.