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F.A.Q.
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The unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry At any given time, about 250 Canadians are counting on Canadian Blood Services to find them a matching bone marrow donor. For most people, a bone marrow transplant is their only hope of recovery from a serious illness. You may be able to help. Volunteering to donate your bone marrow through the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry is easy. All it takes is a little bit of your time, a simple blood test and a willingness to donate bone marrow to any patient in need of a transplant. More than 230,000 Canadians have already made this generous commitment. Many people are alive today thanks to these individuals and to the millions of potential donors on other registries around the world. What is Bone Marrow? Bone marrow is the tissue found in the soft centre of your bones. Bone marrow contains stem cells that grow into blood cells, including red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that fight infection, and platelets that help to stop bleeding. When bone marrow becomes diseased (as in aplastic anemia), one form of treatment is to destroy the patient’s diseased marrow and replace it with the marrow of a healthy, matching donor. How are donors matched to patients? Surprisingly, the blood group (A,B,O,AB) of an individual is not the critical factor. Instead, a blood test is used to identify proteins called “antigens” that are found on the surface of white blood cells. When a person joins the Registry his or her antigens are identified and this information is added to a national databank. Whenever a transplant physician requires a volunteer donor for a patient, Canadian Blood Services is able to search its donor databank for a match. Because Canadian Blood Services complies with international standards established by the World Marrow Donor Association, we also have access to typing information from more than eight million donors on registries in other countries. How is bone marrow donated? You are admitted to the hospital the day before or the day of the bone marrow collection. While lying on your stomach under general or spinal anesthesia, a specially designed needle is inserted into the pelvic bones at both sides of your lower back. Only a small portion (three to five percent) of your total bone marrow is removed and will be replaced by your body within weeks. The procedure takes approximately one to two hours. You are usually discharged later that day or the following day. What does it feel like to donate bone marrow? The actual collection procedure itself is performed under anesthesia. Short-term side effects after the procedure usually include fatigue and soreness at the donation site. The soreness has been compared to the sensation you might experience following hard exercise or a fall on the ice. How would the patient receive my bone marrow? The bone marrow (which looks very similar to blood) is placed in transfusion bags and is taken by medical courier back to the patient – who may be in Canada, or in another country. The patient will have already undergone high levels of chemotherapy and radiation to eliminate all of his or her diseased cells. The donated bone marrow is transfused to the recipient. If all goes well, the bone marrow will start to produce normal healthy blood cells after several weeks. |
Who can join the Registry ? Canadian Blood Services has established eligibility criteria to ensure that bone marrow donation is a safe procedure for both donors and recipients. We have also established Recruitment Guidelines to ensure that efforts to promote the Registry are consistent with international standards. Our Recruitment Guidelines are available upon request or by visiting our Web site at www.bloodservices.ca. To join the Registry, you must be aged 17 to 50, healthy, and willing to donate bone marrow to anyone in need. Health problems that could make you ineligible include some heart conditions, cancer, blood diseases, and insulin-dependent diabetes. Is ethnicity or age of a donor important? Anyone who is eligible and willing to donate mat be able to help. However, some antigens are more commonly found in particular ethnic groups, so it is important to ensure that the Registry is reflective of Canada’s ethnic diversity. Young donors, with many years ahead of then on the Registry, are also important. What happens once I join the Registry? Once you’re fully informed and have decided to join the Registry, arrangements will be made to have a small quantity of blood drawn from your arm for testing. Your test results will remain confidential and will be used solely for the purposes of helping find matching donors for patients. Only a small number of people on the Registry will actually have the opportunity to donate bone marrow. If you are one of these people, we will contact you to confirm your willingness to proceed and discuss the next steps. Please remember to let us know if you move or if your health status changes in a way that might affect your eligibility to donate. Are there other ways I might be asked to donate stem cells? A small number of individuals on the Registry have made a stimulated Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) donation. This occurs infrequently and only when requested by a transplant physician. In a stimulated PBSC donation, the donor is given a drug that increases the quantity of stem cells circulating in the bloodstream. The stem cells are then gathered through a process called apheresis. A needle is inserted into the donor’s arm and his or her blood is passed through a centrifuge, which separates the stem cells from the blood. The blood returns to the donor through the same needle. Does it help if I donate blood? Donating blood is something you can do to help, whether or not you decide to join the Registry. Bone marrow recipients often need a large quantity of blood before and after they receive a transplant. To obtain a Donor Registration Package or a copy of our Recruitment Guidelines, visit our Web site or call us toll-free.
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