Haploidentical Transplant

Haploidentical transplants are a form of allogeneic transplant that utilise healthy, blood-forming cells from a half-matched donor. The healthy cells are taken from a donor, typically a family member, to replace the unhealthy ones.
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Traditionally, allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation can only be performed with a well matched donor. The most common sources of a matched donor are 1) using a full matched sibling donor – there is a 25% chance each sibling could be a match 2) finding a fully matched unrelated donor on the international donor registry.
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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.
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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.
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Haploidentical transplants bring the advantage of increased chances of finding a donor; almost everyone has at least one haploidentical relative.
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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.
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Disclaimer:
The information on the Centre For Clinical Haematology website is intended for educational use.  It should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment from a qualified health professional.