It is a type of bone marrow transplant in which the blood-forming cells are taken from a suitable donor, who shares the same genetic type as the patient. The stem cells may be collected by harvesting the bone marrow or from the peripheral blood (apheresis).
- Siblings - There is about a 25% possibility of finding a complete HLA match with the recipient brother or sister
- Parents - There is approximately a 4 to 5% possibility of finding a complete HLA match with the recipient parents and the chances are higher in families where consanguineous marriage (marriage between cousins) takes place.
- UBMT - It stands for unrelated bone marrow transplants, also known as matched unrelated donor transplants. It involves the use of healthy blood-forming cells taken from an unrelated donor which can be found through the national bone marrow registries.
- Umbilical cord blood transplant: The healthy blood-forming cells are collected from the umbilical cord of a child at the time of birth. These cells, being immature, are capable of developing into functioning blood cells more efficiently. Once collected, these are tested, typed, counted, and frozen until they are ready to be transplanted.
