What is a bone marrow transplant?

Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, and other diseases like sickle cell anemia. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream, where they begin to function and multiply.

For a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the patient needs a donor who is a close match. Seventy percent of patients do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry to find an unrelated bone marrow donor or umbilical cord blood.

How is a bone marrow match determined?

Doctors look for a donor who matches their patient's tissue type, specifically their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type. HLAs are proteins — or markers — found on most cells in your body. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. The closer the match between the patient's HLA markers and yours, the better for the patient.

Does race or ethnicity affect macthing?

Racial and ethnic ancestry are very important factors. Patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity. Today, there simply aren't enough registry members of diverse ancestry. Adding more diverse members increases the likelihood that all patients will find a life-saving match.

What is the donation process like?

For this specific type of leukemia the process is a bit different then what you may already consider. Peripheral blood cell (PBSC) donation involves removing a donor's blood through a needle in one arm. The blood is passed through a machine that separates out the cells used in transplants. The remaining blood is returned through the other arm.

What is PBSC donation?

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is a way to collect blood-forming cells for transplantation. The same blood-forming cells (sometimes called blood stem cells) that can be donated from the bone marrow are also found in the circulating (peripheral) blood. Before donation, a donor takes injections of a drug called filgrastim to move more blood-forming cells out of the marrow and into the bloodstream. Then the donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm. This process is similar to donating plasma.

How do I use the registration kit to collect a cheek cell sample?

When you join the registry, you will use the Be The Match ® registration kit that is given to you to swab a cheek of cells. Be The Match ® will run some tests to determine the tissue type of the sample provided by you and use those results to determine whether you match the patient.