Highlights
A patient with leukaemia or another type of blood cancer can be cured through a stem cell transplant. There is a shortage of voluntary, unrelated donors in the Netherlands. There is a mere 30% chance of finding a suitable donor within your own family so your registration to become a donor really is crucial.
Your so-called HLA tissue type is determined in a laboratory and the results are then registered anonymously in a global database.
The most important factors to make a match are:
- HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen)
- Age
- Gender
- CMV also known as the cytomegalic virus.
We also look at factors such as weight, riskfull behavior, travel history of the past months and availability.
This video gives a short explanation about what stem cell donation is.
"Scientific research has proved that a stem cell donation has a greater chance of being successful if the donor is healthy and aged between 18 and 35 years old."