Bone marrow is made up of a spongy substance, located in the bone marrow and is the site of red cells, white blood cells and platelets. Blood cells that are at the earliest stage of development of the bone marrow and produce all the blood cells are called stem cells.

In recent years there has been tremendous progress in the cure of serious blood-related diseases through the transplantation of stem cells of a healthy person in the body of a sick person, when it is essential that there be a match between them in the classification of tissues.

Only a small proportion of all patients in need of stem cell transplantation have a family member who matches their tissue classification, and all others need to look in the general population for an identical donor in their tissue classification when it usually belongs to the same ethnic group to which the patient belongs.

Hence the need and importance of maintaining a pool that will include a large number of volunteers (aged 18 to 45) with a known tissue classification who are willing to donate stem cells (bone marrow cells) if found to be compatible with a patient in need of this donation.

Stem cell donation is a routine and accepted process in Israel and around the world, which is performed through a vein similar to a blood donation, when to date tens of thousands of collections have been made. The stem cells regenerate and supplement the amount donated in a short time and the donor returns to himself everything he has donated.

How do you join the donor pool?

• Providing a saliva sample – the oral mucosa (DNA) to perform a tissue classification test.
• The results of the tissue classification test will be transferred to a computerized donor database that serves all patients in need of stem cell donation in Israel and around the world.

How to find a donor from the database?

• When a patient needs a donation, the database is scanned to find a donor whose tissue classification matches that of the patient.
• If such a donor is found in the donor database, he is asked to donate a standard blood sample through which final fit tests will be performed.
• If these tests show an adjustment to the patient’s tissue classification, the process will continue towards collecting cells.

How is the stem cell collection process performed?

Once a suitable donor is found, the following steps will be taken:

• For five days before collection a cell growth promoter will be injected into the donor.
• On the fifth day, the cells are collected through the vein of the hand – similar to a normal blood donation – in a process that lasts several hours.

(To select the donor, there is an alternative way to make the donation. This is done by pumping cells from the pelvic cavity under regional anesthesia of the lower body – this process requires one day of hospitalization)