Find out who can be a stem cell or bone marrow donor, and how to register.

A stem cell or bone marrow transplant is an important treatment for some people with types of blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

A transplant allows you to have high doses of chemotherapy and other treatments. The stem cellsare collected from the bloodstream or the bone marrow.Peoplehave a transplant either:

To be a donor you need to have stem cells that match the person you are donating to. To find this out, you have a blood test to look at HLA typing or tissue typing.

Staff in the laboratory look at the surface of your blood cells. They compare them to the surface of the blood cells of the person needing a transplant.

Everyone has their own set of proteins on the surface of their blood cells. The laboratory staff look for proteins called HLA markers and histocompatibility antigens. They check for 10 HLA markers. The result of this test shows how good the HLA match is between you and the person who needs the cells.

Abrother or sisteris most likely to be a match. There is a 1 in 4 chance of your cells matching.This is called a matched related donor (MRD) transplant.Anyone else in the family is unlikely to match. This can be very frustrating for relatives who are keen to help.

Sometimes if your cells are a half (50%) match, you might still be able to donate stem cells or bone marrow to a relative. This is called a haploidentical transplant.

You can't donate stem cells or bone marrow to your relative if you're not a match.

It's sometimes possible to get a match from someoneoutside of the family. This is calleda matched unrelated donor. To find a matched unrelated donor, it'susually necessary to search large numbers of people whose tissue type has been tested. So doctorssearch national and international registers to try to find a match for your relative.

Even if you can't donate to your relative, you might be ableto become a donor for someone else. You can do this by contacting one of the UK registers.

There are different donor registersin the UK.These work with each otherand with international registersto match donors with people who need stem cells. This helps doctors find donors for their patients as quickly as possiblefrom anywhere in the world.

Each registry has specific health criteriaand listmedical conditions that mightpreventyou from donating. Check their websitefor this information. Once registered, the organisation will contactyou if you are a match for someone who needs stem cells or bone marrow.

British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR)

To register with the BBMR, you mustbe a blood donor. BBMR would like toregister those groups they are particularly short of ontheir register.This includes men between the ages of 17 and 40. And womenaged between 17 and 40 who are from Black, Asian, and minority ethnicities and mixed ethnicity backgrounds.

You have a blood test for tissue typing. Your details are kept on file until you are 60.

Anthony Nolan

You must be aged between 16 and 30 to register with Anthony Nolan. You have a cheek swab to test fortissue typing. Your details are kept on the register until you are 60.

Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry

You must be aged between 17 and 30 and your details are kept on the register until you are 60. You have a blood test for tissue typing.

DKMS

To register you must be aged between 17 and 55. You havea cheek swab for tissue typing. Your details stay on the register until your61st birthday.

This page is due for review. We will update this as soon as possible.

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Who can donate stem cells or bone marrow? | Stem cell and ...