Finding a blood stem cell donor 

You do not have to find your own donor. Your transplant team will work with NMDP to look for the best donor or cord blood unit for you.

The sooner your doctor starts a donor search, the better the chance you have of getting a transplant when you need it. There are guidelines on the best time to see a transplant doctor depending on your diagnosis.

If you haven’t seen a transplant doctor yet, ask your doctor if transplant may be an option for you and if you need HLA typing. They can refer you to a transplant doctor and get your HLA tested.

Your transplant team can look for a donor while you are getting other treatments.

First, your transplant team tests your blood to learn your human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type. HLA are proteins—or markers—found on most cells in your body. Then, they look for a donor or cord blood unit with HLA markers that closely match yours. Because HLA markers are inherited, your transplant team will likely ask to test your brothers and sisters. They’ll also work with NMDP to look for a matched unrelated donor or cord blood unit on the NMDP Registry.

If you have brothers or sisters that share your same mom and dad, your transplant team may ask to test their HLA. Ask your doctor who in your family should be tested.

While it’s very unlikely that extended family members, such as cousins, aunts and uncles, or a friend or neighbor will match you, there are still ways they can help. If your friends and family members are willing to help any patient in need, they  should join the NMDP Registry. They might be the best match for another person who needs a transplant. Volunteering or giving a financial gift are also great ways for them to get involved.

With advances in transplant, the odds of finding a match are improving for all patients who need a blood stem cell transplant. In the past, doctors looked for what’s called a fully matched HLA donor. But not every patient has a fully matched donor in their family or on the NMDP Registry. Our NMDP Donor for All initiative aims to safely unlock access to blood stem cell transplant through many innovative research efforts using partially matched donors. This will significantly expand options for suitable donors and will providing outcomes in line with using fully matched donors.

Some patients who don’t have a fully matched donor can participate in NMDP-sponsored clinical trials using partially matched donors. The research is being conducted by CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), which is a research collaboration between NMDP and the Medical College of Wisconsin®.

If you don’t have a fully matched donor in your family or on the NMDP Registry, ask your doctor if one of the Donor for All clinical trials is an option for you.

A person is most likely to match a donor of a similar ethnic background because HLA genes that doctors use to pair patients and donors are inherited. Unfortunately, even with more than 41 million potential volunteer donors available for searches on registries worldwide, donor registries aren’t diverse enough to ensure every patient finds a fully matched donor. More potential donors are always needed to join the NMDP Registry to improve all patients’ odds of finding a suitable match.

Your transplant team looks at many factors to determine your best match beyond HLA. They also test and screen potential donors to make sure they are a safe and healthy match for you. They may also consider the donor’s age and other factors to choose the best donor for you.

Every patient’s search is different. For many patients, the donor search takes as little as 1 to 2 weeks from the time a donor testing request is made until the lab has the blood sample and HLA typing results. Sometimes it takes longer. It usually takes about 3 months from when a transplant team starts to search for a donor or cord blood unit until the day of transplant.

Contact your transplant team. They will keep you up to date on how your search is going. They have the most accurate and up-to-date information for you.

The search costs are different for each patient. The costs depend on health insurance coverage, how many donors need to be tested, and where the donors live. Transplant centers may charge for the search differently too. Ask your transplant center’s financial coordinator what your costs might be. Find more resources and information about paying for transplant.

If you have an unrelated donor, you won’t know who your donor is on transplant day. There are privacy rules in place to protect you and your donor. There are some ways you may be able to contact your donor after transplant but it depends on the country your donor is from.

If you have a cord blood transplant, you will never have any contact with the person who donated the cord blood.