Healthy cells used in a bone marrow transplant (also called a BMT) or umbilical cord blood transplant can be from your own blood-forming cells (autologous) or those of a marrow donor or umbilical cord blood unit (allogeneic).
If your doctor determines that you need an allogeneic transplant, he or she will look for a donor in your family that matches your HLA tissue type. HLA stands for human leukocyte antigen, a marker your immune system uses to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not.
HLA tissue types are inherited, so your best chance of finding a match is with a brother or sister. However, 70% of patients do not have a suitable donor in their family. If you do not have a donor in your family, your doctor can search for a marrow donor or cord blood unit.
The registry of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, also called the Be The Match Registry®, is a listing of potential marrow donors and donated cord blood units. The registry is operated under Federal contracts by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP).
including when your doctor may begin to search a listing of nearly 16.5 million potential marrow donors and nearly 550,000 cord blood units throughout the world.It can take a few weeks to a few months or more to find a marrow donor or cord blood unit. However, sometimes a matching marrow donor or cord blood unit cannot be found. If your doctor cannot find a suitable match for you, he or she will look at other treatment options.
Sometimes, family and friends want to help by finding more donors. The NMDP can help with donor recruitment efforts.
