You could be someone’s cure
A blood stem cell donation can cure or treat over 75 diseases including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell. Your healthy stem cells can replace a patient’s sick cells—and their entire immune system.
Age matters
Doctors request donors in the 18-35 age group nearly 75% of the time. Research shows cells from younger, healthy donors lead to more successful stem cell transplants for patients.
Ethnicity matters
Patients are most likely to match a donor of their own ethnic background. More people from every ethnic background need to join the registry, so patients have a greater chance of finding a match.
HLA matters
Matching donors to patients has nothing to do with blood type. In fact, a patient’s blood type will change to their donor’s!
What really matters is HLA. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) are:
- Proteins or markers found on most cells in your body
- Used to match patients and donors for blood stem cell transplants
- Inherited from your biological parents
- Complex which can make it difficult for patients to find a match
70% of patients don’t have a fully matched donor in their family, so they rely on the Be The Match Registry® to help find a donor. The more people that join the registry, the more likely a patient will find a match.
Commitment matters
You could be someone’s only match—their only hope for a cure. That’s why it’s important to know all the facts about blood stem cell donation, so you can be ready to say “yes” if called. Joining the donor registry means you are willing to help save someone’s life. Make the commitment now.