How Can I Help

For thousands of critically ill blood cancer patients, there is a cure. Be The Match® connects patients with their life-saving bone marrow match. And it could be you. If you join Be The Match Registry® and are the best match for a patient, you can expect the following steps in the donation process.

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is one of two methods of collecting blood-forming cells for bone marrow transplants. The same blood-forming cells that are found in bone marrow are also found in the circulating (peripheral) blood.

PBSC donation is a nonsurgical procedure, called apheresis. The donation takes place at an experienced blood center or outpatient hospital facility that participates in PBSC collections for Be The Match®.

For 5 days leading up to your PBSC donation, you will be given injections of a drug called filgrastim to increase the number of blood-forming cells (also called blood stem cells) in your bloodstream.

On the day of your PBSC donation, your blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that will collect only the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to you through a needle in the other arm. This process is similar to what is used when donating blood platelets.