11/20/2025
For those with blood cancers and disorders like leukemia, having a donor match for stem cell or blood and marrow transplants (BMT) can be life changing. However, primarily due to misconceptions about the donor process, equity in donor match availability varies greatly across ethnicities in the U.S.
Some misconceptions about BMT and stem cell donations:
🚫 These are NOT organ donations.
🚫 Standard transplants DO NOT use embryonic stem cells — they use stem cells from bone marrow or peripheral blood.
🚫 Not all transplants require surgery. 90% of donations use apheresis, an outpatient process similar to donating plasma or platelets.
More diversity in the registry helps everyone. Even if you register and are never called, you’re still making a difference by simply being in the system for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).
Read more about the difference between BMT and stem cell transplants: ohlth.co/43ATdDF.