Be The Match Program -
Frequently Asked Quesions

What are stem cells ?

Stem cells, the cells transplant patients need to make healthy new marrow, are the immature cells that can develop into any of the cells present in the blood stream: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

What is marrow?

Marrow is found in the cavities of the body's bones. It resembles blood and contains stem cells, which produce red cells, white cells and other blood components.



What are PBSC (Peripheral Blood Stem Cells)?

Stem cells, the cells that transplant patients need to make new healthy marrow, usually live in bone marrow, but are also released in small numbers into the circulating (peripheral) blood.

 

Who can become a stem cell donor?

A person of any race, ethnicity or gender who is 18 to 60 years old and in general good health can become a volunteer stem cell donor.

Why is registering as a potential donor so important?

On any given day, more than 6,000 men, women and children are searching the Be The Match Program. Registry for a life-saving donor like you. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. For many of these patients, a transplant may be the best and only hope of a cure.

We work to provide hope and deliver a cure to all patients in need. With your support, more patients can access the treatment they so desperately need.

For a successful transplant, the tissue type of a bone marrow donor or a cord blood unit needs to match the patient’s as closely as possible. Special testing determines whether a patient and bone marrow donor or cord blood unit are a good match. The closer the match, the better for the patient.

Race and ethnicity matter in tissue matches.Because tissue types are inherited, patients are more likely to matchsomeone from their own race or ethnicity. Adding more donors and cord blood units from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the NMDP Registry increases the likelihood that all patients will find the match they need.

Your heritage can make all the difference. If you are from one of the following communities, you are urgently needed as a bone marrow donor or cord blood donor:

  • Black and African American
  • American Indian and Alaska Native
  • Asian
  • Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander
  • Hispanic and Latino
  • Multiple race