Patients at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and cancer patients worldwide could benefit from your participation in the National Marrow Donor Program. The NMDP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive the bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant they need.

Why join?

Every year, more than 35,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with leukemia, anemia, lymphoma and other life threatening blood diseases that require treatment with a marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant. More complicated than matching blood types, a marrow transplant requires extensive testing to ensure that a good match has been found.

Only 30% of patients in need of a transplant find a matching donor within his or her family. The remaining 70% search a worldwide database of unrelated donors, looking for their "miracle match" who is willing to donate their cells. When you become a donor, you join the global movement to help give somebody a future. 

With over 5.5 million volunteer donors, the NMDP is the largest, most diverse registry in the world, and is accredited by the World Marrow Donor Association.

About the donation process

First, you must find out if you are eligible for initial screening by meeting certain age and general health criteria. If so, the NMDP then takes a small sample of your saliva.

Donors are asked to remain committed to donating until their 61st birthday. If you are found to be a match for someone, additional testing will take place. 

To learn more about eligibility and the donation process please go to the National Marrow Donor Program website.