Haploidentical transplant

A haploidentical transplant is a type of allogeneic transplant. It uses healthy blood-forming cells from a half-matched donor to replace the patient’s unhealthy ones. The donor is typically a family member.

For any allogeneic blood stem cell transplant, the healthy blood-forming cells come from a donor. To find the best donor match for you, your doctor will test your blood to find out your human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type. HLA is a protein—or marker—found on most cells in your body. Your doctor looks for a donor or cord blood unit that is the best match for you. Sometimes this is a haploidentical donor where the donor matches exactly half of your HLA.

A haploidentical, or half-matched, donor is usually your mom, your dad or your child. Parents are always a half-match for their children and vice versa. That’s because you get half of your HLA from each biological parent. Siblings (brothers or sisters) have a 50% (1 out of 2) chance of being a half-match for each other. It’s very unlikely that other family members (like cousins, aunts or uncles) would be a half-match.

As you consider haploidentical transplant ask your doctor:

• Is a haploidentical transplant an option for me?
• What are the risks and benefits of transplant from a haploidentical donor compared to other types of donors?
• How much experience does this transplant center have doing haploidentical transplants?
• What are the typical results for patients at this center who have had a transplant from a half-matched donor?
• Is there a haploidentical transplant clinical trial that I could join?
• Which family member would be my half-matched donor? What does that person have to do?

When you are making your treatment decision, there are other questions to ask your transplant team, too.

Your health insurance company may cover some of or the majority of your transplant expenses. Ask your insurance provider these questions about coverage for haploidentical transplant:

• An allogeneic transplant from a haploidentical donor?
• Care in a haploidentical transplant clinical trial?
• My family member’s bone marrow or stem cell collection?

As you begin to understand the financial aspects for transplant, there are additional questions to ask your health insurance company.

If you have questions about whether haploidentical transplant is right for you, talk with your transplant doctor. Every person’s situation is different, and your transplant doctor can help you make choices about your treatment.

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