Blood stem cell transplants are used as a treatment when an aggressive and malignant haemopathy cannot be cured with medications and the patient’s life expectancy is short. The most common diseases for which this therapy is applied are acute leukaemias. Stem cell transplants can be used to treat diseases such as myelomas and lymphomas where they are resistant to medical treatment.
A donation from an unknown to another unknown
Members of the Registry commit to helping any patient in need, whether child or adult, Finnish or foreign. Registry members cannot choose the recipients of their donations, since the choice of donor is primarily dictated by factors of tissue compatibility.
For a third of patients in need of a stem cell transplant, a suitable donor is found from among the patient’s immediate family, meaning an unnamed donor is unnecessary. However, if no donor with a suitable tissue type can be found in the patient’s immediate family, the international registry is searched for a suitable individual. The Finnish Stem Cell Registry serves approximately 100 stem cell transplants to Finland and abroad every year.
