Haploidentical Transplant

While many patients are able to find a suitable donor from the above means, there are a significant number of patients where a matched donor is not available..

Recent medical advances that have made it possible to use partially matched or haploidentical related donors instead. A haploidentical related donor is usually a 50% match to the recipient and is typically the recipient’s family member such as a sibling, child, or parent..

Haploidentical transplants bring the advantage of increased chances of finding a donor; almost everyone has at least one haploidentical relative..

With the improvements in medical treatment, the complications of a haploidentical transplant, such as rejection of the graft, graft versus host disease, and delayed recovery of the immune system can be well managed. In fact, recent studies have indicated that the results of haplo-identical transplantation are similar to matched sibling donor and matched unrelated donor transplantation.

FAQs

Who is the best match for a stem cell transplant?

In most cases, a fully-matched family donor is often the first choice donor for an allogeneic stem cell transplant. If there are no fully-matched siblings, then alternative choices may include matched donors from the donor registry networks, haploidentical donors from the family, or even umbilical cord blood units from the cord blood registry network.

What disqualifies you from being a bone marrow donor?

There are several reasons someone may not be able to be a bone marrow donor. This includes being diagnosed with autoimmune diseases (e.g. fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis), being diagnosed with HIV (AIDS), or being overweight or underweight.

Doctors will review potential donors and their suitability to become bone marrow donors on a case-by-case basis.

What makes you a match for bone marrow?

In order to find a donor for a stem cell transplant, DNA markers, known as Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA), are taken into consideration. HLA markers are located on the surface of one’s white blood cells, and we inherit them from our biological parents. This means that when considering a suitable donor for a stem cell transplant, it is likely to be from a sibling. However, it is possible to find a match from an unrelated donor. This is known as a matched unrelated donor.

Is it hard to find a bone marrow match?

For a patient to receive a bone marrow transplant, a matching donor must be found. Doctors use a specific blood test to analyse a potential donor’s human leukocyte antigens (HLA), specific proteins on white blood cells, before determining if they are a match.

Unfortunately, only 30 per cent of patients who require a bone marrow transplant are able to find a fully matched donor in their immediate family members. If there are no fully-matched family members, then a donor is usually sought on the global international donor registry. The chances of finding a donor are largely related to the patient ethnicity, as HLA matching is linked to ethnicity. As such, Caucasian and Chinese patients have in general a high chance of finding a donor, whereas Malay and Indian patients often have a more limited donor pool from which to identify a donor.

How long does it take to know if a bone marrow transplant is successful?

In order for doctors to determine if your bone marrow transplant is successful, your blood count levels need to return to normal along with your immune system. This can take between 6 to 12 months. Our transplant team will continue to monitor you during this period for any issues that may surface.

What percentage of bone marrow transplants are successful?

Bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants are an effective form of treatment for many forms of advanced blood cancers.

However, the specific success rates depend on the type of cancer, the stage of the underlying blood cancer, as well as the type of treatment required. Our team of doctors will work to provide you with a personalised treatment plan with estimated chances of response after reviewing your case.

What are the possible complications of a stem cell transplant?

There are a number of complications that can occur after a stem cell transplant. These include both short term and long term complications.

Patients may experience short term complications such as mouth and throat pain, vomiting or nausea, infection, or graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Longer-term complications include disease relapse, GVHD, cardiac and hormonal changes, as well as secondary cancers.

Our transplant team will work closely with you through the different phases of your transplant to monitor, prevent and manage any such complications.