How does a person’s race or ethnicity affect matching?

Because tissue type is inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their same race and ethnicity. While donors of all types may help save lives, there is a serious shortage of marrow/stem cell donors who represent ethnic minorities.

How are blood-forming cells collected?

Marrow donation is a surgical procedure performed in a hospital. While the donor receives anesthesia, doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the donor's pelvic bones. A donor's marrow is completely replaced within four to six weeks.

Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) Donation takes place at an apheresis center. To increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream, donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days before the collection.  The donor's blood is then removed through a sterile needle in one arm, passed through a machine that separates out the cells used in transplantation, and the remaining blood is returned through the other arm.

Does donating hurt? What are the side effects?

Marrow donors can expect to feel some soreness in their lower back for a few days or longer. Donors also have reported feeling tired and having some difficulty walking. Most donors are back to their usual routine in a few days. Some may take two to three weeks before they feel completely recovered.

PBSC donors report varying symptoms including headache, bone or muscle pain, nausea, insomnia and fatigue while receiving injections of filgrastim. These effects disappear shortly after collection. During the collection, donors may experience a tingling feeling or chills. These effects go away shortly after donating. When asked about their discomfort, most donors are quick to point out that it was worth it to help save a life, and they would be willing to do it again.
 

How does a patient receive a transplant?

After a patient undergoes chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment to destroy their diseased marrow, the healthy donor cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream. The cells travel to the marrow, where they begin to function and multiply.
 

How does a person become a volunteer donor?

Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 60 years old and meet health guidelines. A small blood sample or cheek swab is taken and tested to determine the donor's tissue type. Potential donors also complete a brief health questionnaire and sign a consent form to have their tissue type listed on the Registry.

How Do I Join?

• Be between the ages of 18 – 60 years old.
   
• Complete a brief health questionnaire to verify your eligibility to join the Registry
   
• Sign a form consenting to have your tissue type listed on the Registry until your 61st birthday
   
• Provide a blood sample or cheek swab which is tested to determine your tissue type