Bone Marrow Donation Process

The bone marrow donation process involves several steps. Individuals must be 18 to 61 with no history of hepatitis, heart disease, cancer, syphilis, AIDS or intravenous drug use, and they must submit to the preliminary blood test to record their antigens.

Most potential donors never proceed beyond that point. But if identified as a possible match, the donor is asked to submit to a second blood test and a physical examination. Finally, the donor checks into a hospital after signing a consent form. The costs of the donor’s testing, physical and hospitalization are paid through the recipient’s personal funds or medical insurance, says Liz Quam of the National Marrow Donor Program.

While under anesthesia, about 3% to 5% of the donor’s bone marrow is harvested through sterile needles from four to eight tiny incisions in the hip. The 20 to 30 extractions of bone marrow take about one hour.

The procedure can be painful, and nausea or a sore throat are common side effects from the anesthesia. But most donors return home the next day with only a sore hip, Quam said. The risk of an infection or severe reaction to the anesthesia is extremely small, and a donor has never died from the procedure. Within a few weeks, the donor’s body naturally replenishes the donated marrow.

For the recipient, the journey is more perilous.

First, the recipient undergoes high doses of radiation and chemotherapy to kill the diseased bone marrow. Because this leaves the patient completely vulnerable to germs, he or she is placed in isolation and must quickly receive the donor marrow, which is transfused into the veins.

If successful, the marrow begins to produce normal blood cells within two or three weeks. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, about 70% of transplant recipients survive two years or more. Long-term survival rates are unknown.